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School Searching for Special Needs Children

HSLDA member families in Hancock County recently received a notice from the Director of Special Education for the public school system in that county. The notice requested that recipients aid the county in identifying children “with disabilities who are not attending school or who are attending school but are not receiving the special services they need.”

Under the “Child Find” provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), school systems are required by the federal government to make attempts to identify children with special needs. However, this provision does not require homeschoolers to contact the public school system if their child has some special education needs or they know anyone with possible needs. Please see our IDEA Issue Center for more information.

Under Kentucky law, homeschool families have the freedom to teach their children at home regardless of whether their children have special education needs. Parents are often in the best position to be able to address their child’s special education needs at home. There are many resources available to parents seeking to meet these needs privately rather than through the local public school.

For more information about homeschooling a child with special needs please see http://www.hslda.org/hs/specialneeds/default.asp . If you have any questions about this issue please contact HSLDA for more information.