| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 8/21/2002 11:09:11 AM Scott W. Somerville, Esq., Staff Attorney of HSLDA Nevada--Update on Curriculum Approval Regulations |
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear HSLDA Members and Friends, A lot has happened since August 9, when I first informed you that the Department of Education has decided that home schoolers must comply with Nevada's new Content and Performance Standards. The bad news is that the Department insists that Nevada law requires this. The good news is that after hearing all the objections from HSLDA and Nevada home school leaders, they are not going to try to make families meet these new Standards this fall. It is our understanding that they intend to propose changes to the regulations that govern home schoolers within a few weeks or months. This gives Nevada families a chance to get organized in defense of freedom! ACTION REQUESTED (1) Communicate: please share this email with all Nevada home schoolers and interested persons. If you have received this email from a friend, please sign up for HSLDA's free "e-lerts" at www.hslda.org. If you have ever considered joining HSLDA in the past, this would be a good time to do so! (2) Network: we estimate that there are over 3,000 home schooling families in Nevada, with a wide range of concerns and interests. Home schoolers in local support groups need to network with other groups across the state. HSLDA has a very incomplete list of Nevada home schools groups at http://www.hslda.org/orgs/default.asp?State=NV. If you would like your group listed on our site, please email the name of the group, the contact person's phone number, address, and email/website (if any). REPORT ON CONTACTS WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Home schoolers in Churchill County were the first to realize that the Department was trying to make us comply with the new Standards. Missy Miller sent HSLDA a copy of an email from Leslie James, who deals with home school matters at the Department. HSLDA contacted Frank Schnorbus, a home school activist. As Chairman of the Northern Nevada Home School Advisory Council, Frank has a good working relationship with Leslie James. He was able to inquire about the Department's position without creating unnecessary alarm. Frank informed HSLDA that the Department was relying on legal advice from Deputy Attorney General Melanie Meehan-Crossly. HSLDA immediately contacted Steve Balkenbush, a Nevada attorney and long-time home school leader. Steve served as a Deputy Attorney General in the past and knows Ms. Meehan-Crossley personally. He explained why home schoolers should not be subjected to the new Standards, based on his extensive personal experience as president of the Silver State Education Association and his expert knowledge of Nevada law. Steve reported that the discussion was positive, but that Ms. Meehan-Crossley had not changed her position yet. The Department of Education invited Frank Schnorbus to come discuss the situation with Ms. Meehan-Crossley and Department officials. Frank notified HSLDA that he would meet with them at the end of the day on Wednesday, August 14. I promptly called Ms. Meehan-Crossley to find out what position the Attorney General's office was taking on this matter. We had another "positive" discussion, and I immediately wrote a letter to memorialize that conversation. (http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/NV/nvletter.pdf) My letter ended with a plea to retract Leslie James' email and return everything to the "status quo" until we could address the larger legal issues. I faxed my letter to Ms. Meehan-Crossley and made sure Frank got a copy of it before he walked in to the meeting that afternoon. Frank met with Ms. Meehan-Crossley and several Department of Education officials at 3:30 pm on Wednesday, August 16. According to an email Frank sent right after the meeting, the Department now plans keep everything at "status quo" for the present. The Department is drafting documents to ask the State Board of Education to amend the current regulations to resolve the problem. (In the meantime, local school districts should do just what they have done in the past.) Home schoolers will have to work together and will have to work hard to persuade the Board to protect home school freedoms. WHY DO THEY CLAIM THE STANDARDS APPLY TO US? At the start of 1997, Nevada's home school regulations required annual standardized testing and certain required courses. (Regulations always come from the executive branch of government; education regulations are therefore written by the State Board of Education. Nevada regulations are compiled in the "Nevada Administrative Code," which is abbreviated "NAC.") NAC 392.035 requires home schoolers to "include instruction in the courses of study prescribed by the state board of education pursuant to NRS 385.110." ("NRS" stands for the "Nevada Revised Code," which is a collection of statutes passed by the Legislature.) In 1997, NRS 385.110 simply gave the Board of Education the power to require certain subjects. The Board then defined the required subjects in NAC 389.195 (for elementary students) and NAC 389.450 (additional subjects for high school students). During 1997, the State Board of Education amended the home school regulations to remove the standardized testing requirement. In 1999, the Nevada Legislature passed a huge Education Reform Act, which, among other things, created the "Committee to Establish Academic Standards for Public Schools." One small part of this huge Act amended NRS 385.110, the statute that gives the Board of Education authority to define the required subjects for Nevada public schools. This amendment required the Board of Education to make sure the courses of study "comply with the standards of content and performance established by the council to establish academic standards for public schools." To the best of our knowledge, nobody in the Legislature, Board of Education, Department of Education, or Attorney General's office realized that this change to a public school statute (NRS 385.110) would have any effect on home schoolers. If they had, they should have notified home schoolers of their opportunity to comment when regulations were being written to implement these new standards. Since there was neither notice nor an opportunity to be heard, home schoolers can challenge the new regulations any time until November 1, 2003. CONCLUSION This situation is serious, but by working together we can win. Nevada home schoolers must get organized now to protect our freedom in the months ahead. The price of liberty is STILL eternal vigilance! Very truly yours, Scott W. 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