| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 12/6/2002 2:32:52 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Massachusetts--Ware Homeschoolers Need Your Help |
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- December 6, 2002 Dear HSLDA Members and Friends, On Thursday, December 12, 2002, the Ware School Committee will have one final opportunity to avoid embarrassing and costly litigation. As matters stand today, Ware is poised to make a terrible mistake. They plan to reject a homeschool proposal despite clear evidence that it meets or exceeds all Massachusetts standards. REQUESTED ACTION Thursday night's school committee meeting may provide one last opportunity to resolve this conflict out of court. The school committee has agreed to public discussion about their policy. We need many Massachusetts homeschoolers to attend the meeting. If you live between Worcester and Springfield and are available for Thursday night's meeting, please email me as soon as possible at scott@hslda.org. You do not have to be a homeschooler to come out and show your support for homeschool freedoms, so please pass this message on to friends of liberty throughout Western Massachusetts. The school committee meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m., and will be held in the Ware public high school, 237 West Street, Ware, MA, 01082. The high school is located about 7 miles off the turnpike on Route 32. Take the Palmer exit (Exit 8) and follow Rt. 32 north for approximately seven miles. Ware High School is one mile past the Wal- Mart. Take the second left into the school complex and follow that driveway to the front of the school. The meeting will be held in the library, which is straight ahead through the big doors. BACKGROUND Dr. and Mrs. Steven O'Brien are both certified teachers. Dr. O'Brien is a university professor. They are providing a fairly traditional home education program to their one young child, but Ware has announced its intention of rejecting their homeschool proposal unless they agree to meet face-to-face with school officials. Although no Massachusetts court has ever upheld such a demand, Ware has made it clear that they intend to enforce their policy, no matter how unreasonable it may be. The elected officials who represent the district have never adopted the "policy" that Ware is threatening to enforce. Instead, one school administrator made up the mandatory face-to-face meeting requirement on her own initiative. When HSLDA explained that the requirement was unenforceable, Ware consulted their attorney, who advised them that "school systems have the right to review and approve curriculum and materials/books and to document a child's progress." With this legal input, Ware has refused to budge. If Ware is willing to reconsider their misguided policy, and if Massachusetts homeschoolers are willing to turn out in support of freedom, next Thursday night could mark a new beginning for Ware's embattled homeschoolers. Please let me know if you can be there! Very truly yours, Scott W. Somerville HSLDA Staff Attorney {{JoinAd}} ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. 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