| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 10/22/2012 4:11:56 PM Dee Black--HSLDA Georgia--Homeschool Law Updates |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== Georgia - Homeschool Law Updates Dear HSLDA Members and Friends: With the signature of Governor Nathan Deal on House Bill 39 on May 1, 2012, Georgia enacted significant improvements to its homeschool law. Effective with the 2012-2013 school year, parents no longer have to submit monthly attendance records to their local public school superintendent. Instead, the records are to be submitted only once a year to the Georgia Department of Education. Additionally, the annual declaration of intent to conduct a home study program is to be filed with the Department of Education instead of the local superintendent. After the law was changed, the Department of Education began to offer electronic filing of the declaration of intent and attendance records on its website. Objections raised by homeschoolers to the information initially sought in the forms were resolved earlier this month when the department revised the forms, thanks to the work of the Georgia Home Education Association. There is still some information outside the requirements of the law requested in the declaration of intent, but it is designated as "optional" information. You may simply leave this part of the form blank. Homeschoolers who wish to continue to submit paper documents to the Department of Education instead of using the electronic filing option may do so. Submission of monthly attendance records has always been a thorn in the flesh of homeschoolers in Georgia. Problems with parents missing the end-of-month deadline by a few days or misplaced records by school officials often led to inappropriate action by the school district. School districts routinely reported families to social services for educational neglect or threatened truancy charges against family members. They also initiated action to bring about the revocation of the driver's license of students by reporting excessive absences to the Department of Driver Services. Annual reporting at the end of the school year should bring an end to these excessive and unwarranted enforcement actions. To view the forms and other information about home study programs on the Department of Education's website, go to http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=16069 . Please contact us if you have any questions about these changes. Very truly yours, Dewitt T. Black, III HSLDA Senior Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> What do you look like when you get out of bed? It's hard to look our best all the time. HSLDA works to present homeschooling in an engaging, dynamic, and informative light to the public news media. 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