February 24, 2006
April 1 Deadline Approaches
Every New Mexico homeschool family is supposed to "notify" the New Mexico Public Education Department by April 1 each year. Unfortunately, the notification process has been confused by unenforceable demands by the Department. Despite clear language in New Mexico's statutes, the Department is attempting to require every homeschool family to provide their annual notices online.
HSLDA has reviewed the law and the online notification website. Consequently, our warning to families is to not identify their children by name on this non-secure website. It is possible to "notify" the state about a family without providing the names of any children, even though there is a space available for those names.
What happens to families that send in written notices as required by state law? The Public Education Department says "hard copies of the form will no longer be accepted." Families who choose to comply with the letter of the law by providing written documentation should send their notices by registered mail, return receipt requested, and keep a copy of their paperwork. This will enable them to prove that they have complied with the law if there are problems in the future.
HSLDA is committed to defending homeschool freedom, including the freedom to homeschool pursuant to state law as written, not as arbitrarily revised by unelected bureaucrats. By working together with CAPE-NM and freedom loving families, we expect to resolve this issue fairly soon.
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