Chesapeake Retracts Remediation Demand

Home School Legal Defense Association member Michelle Holly (name changed to protect family’s privacy) was happy to have her year-end test scores filed well ahead of the August 1 deadline. She was not happy, however, when a Chesapeake Public Schools employee wrote back and said three of her children would need to be on remediation.

Michelle called HSLDA for help. HSDLA attorney Scott Woodruff called the employee who had written the letter. She defended her demand for remediation by saying that the children scored below the 4th stanine on several of the subtests. Woodruff explained that subtest scores simply do not matter—only the overall, or composite, score matters.

Incredulous, the employee pulled up a copy of the homeschool statute to check for herself. Just as Woodruff said, she found that only a composite score at or above the 4th stanine was required. She acknowledged that the composite scores for each child were adequate. She promptly withdrew her demand for remediation.