October 1, 2003
Oklahoma Principal Rushes to District Attorney to Rein In Homeschooler
Hidden in the beautiful hills of Southeast Oklahoma is a not so pretty secret: the public schools there poorly educate the children.
After ten years in the public school system, Sandy Hunt (not real name) realized that her best hope for a solid education was to be homeschooled. Consequently, she asked her parents to begin homeschooling. Although they had no previous experience with home education, they were willing to give it a try for Sandy's sake.
They told Jon Holmes, Principal of Battiest High School, that they were going to begin homeschooling Sandy. He demanded a written notice. They supplied the requested notice, although they were under no legal duty to do so. Not satisfied with the notice, Principal Holmes promptly called on the District Attorney's office to take action.
Within days of the beginning of their homeschool program, the family received a letter from a truancy officer within the District Attorney's office "requesting" that they supply him with "sufficient documentation as to the curriculum, objectives, and schedule of classroom supervision." The family turned to HSLDA for guidance.
HSLDA wrote the truancy officer a letter asking three questions: What evidence do you have that the family is breaking any law? What law authorizes you to request this information from the family? What standards will you use to determine how much documentation will be "sufficient" concerning curriculum, objectives, and schedule?
HSLDA hopes that the truant officer reconsiders his course of action and decides to leave this family alone.
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