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In Iowa, school districts are required to send an annual notification to the homeschoolers within their district of the Annual Assessment requirements. The Camanche Community School sent the notice, but it included numerous errors.

First, it failed to mention that parents not under a supervising teacher may either assess their child annually or have a portfolio assessment.

Second, it stated that the only test that could be given was the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, when in actuality any nationally recognized standardized achievement evaluation may be given.

The notification gave the dates for the exam administered by the district and the area education agency, but did not state that a nonpublic school was also eligible to administer the test.

Lastly, the notification said that parents could not administer the test. However, a parent may administer the test as a nonpublic school as long as the parent meets the protocol of the test publisher.

After a member informed the Home School Legal Defense Association about the notification, HSLDA Attorney Scott Woodruff sent a letter to members within Camanche School District and told them to disregard the notice unless they were using the annual assessment option and assessing through the public school.

HSLDA then contacted the school and highlighted the errors in the Annual Assessment notification. The school acknowledged the inaccuracies. They changed the notice for future purposes, and agreed to send a corrected notification to the homeschool families within the district.