March 2, 2006
Albemarle County Apologizes for Letter
In January, the Guidance and Career and Technical Education Coordinator for Albemarle County Public Schools sent a letter to homeschool parents. The letter told parents that they were required to submit evidence of high school graduation for students in grade 12 by August 1, 2006. It also asked families to complete a form that would tell the school district whether or not the family wanted to use the public school for end-of-the-year standardized testing.
An alert Home School Legal Defense Association member family sent HSLDA a copy of this letter. We called the coordinator and explained that the law did not give the school district the authority to make either of these demands.
The coordinator was very apologetic, admitted that she had made a mistake and stressed that she wanted a good relationship with homeschoolers.
She agreed to edit the letter for future use to make it clear that families are only requested to tell the school of their child's graduation if the child is under 18. The letter will also explain that they do not need to return a testing form unless they want their child to be tested in the public school.
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