April 27, 2006
School District Perpetuates False Homeschool Deadlines
A Florida member family alerted the Home School Legal Defense Association of a notice they found on the Orange County Public Schools website on April 20, 2006. The notice was to "Home Education Families."
Besides listing the various requirements for homeschoolers operating under the home education statute in Florida, the notice also stated that, "results of annual evaluations/test scores may be submitted to the Office of Home Education during the period of May 17-June 30, 2006." The notice further says that if homeschoolers "cannot meet this deadline, PLEASE NOTIFY THIS OFFICE IN WRITING."
This particular requirement is incorrect. According to state law, there is no specific deadline for submitting evaluations/test scores to the district.
HSLDA sent a letter to the author of this notice explaining that the Florida homeschool law does not impose any other deadline for submitting the evaluation to the county. Therefore, the county has no authority to impose additional requirements or deadlines for when the evaluations must be submitted.
Consequently, home education families may disregard the deadline requirement for evaluations currently posted on the Home Education Notice in the Orange County Website.
This type of situation is not unusual. Other counties in Florida routinely set false deadlines for the annual evaluation. All Florida homeschoolers, regardless of the county they live in, need to be aware that such deadlines are not required. The only actual requirement in the statute is "annual."
Therefore, homeschoolers operating under the Florida homeschool law may submit test scores or evaluations any time within the one-year period after they began home schooling and every year thereafter.
 Other Resources
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Homeschooling in Florida: A Legal Analysis
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