Dear friends of homeschool freedom,
Earlier this year, we filed a lawsuit against a school district in Pennsylvania.
The reason? They had sent a school social worker to knock on the doors of homeschooling families who had refused to comply with a demand that the district had no legal grounds to make in the first place.
HSLDA is quite familiar with both the Pennsylvania homeschool statute and state and local officials’ tendencies to overreach their authority. Normally, this comes in the form of emails, letters, and phone calls. But not this time.
This time, the district took it one step further.
Here’s the background: the Pennsylvania homeschool statute requires that parents have a high school diploma in order to homeschool their children. Parents attest to this with an unsworn declaration or a notarized affidavit. The statute does not require parents to present their diploma—they are merely required to swear under penalty of perjury that they have it.
But that doesn’t stop officials from requesting copies of parents’ diplomas. It happens all across the state, and our legal team can usually resolve the issue with a letter or a phone call.
However, the Eastern Lancaster County School District (ELANCO) decided to try something new.
They began as usual, contacting homeschooling families in their district and requesting copies of their diplomas. Several of our members in the district contacted us for assistance, and we reached out to the district’s legal counsel to inform them that their request was not legal.
Despite this, the next day, the district sent out school officials and a school social worker to knock on the doors of homeschooling families throughout the district. If this invasion of privacy wasn’t enough, the school social worker insisted that they needed to see the kids to “make sure they were okay” and threatened families with truancy charges if they didn’t comply.
For these families, this was a deeply intrusive and intimidating experience. And it was a clear overreach of the district’s authority.
With HSLDA’s support, several of our members filed suit to protect their rights and ensure the district follows the law.
This isn’t the first time HSLDA has sued a school district, and I doubt it will be the last. Over the years, we've taken legal action when districts and officials threatened the freedom of homeschooling families to direct their children's education. They made unlawful demands. They threatened families with truancy charges and CPS investigations.
This has always been one of HSLDA’s primary missions: to represent homeschooling families when their freedom is threatened and they need help.
And in this case, freedom won.
Before we ever set foot in court, the ELANCO district settled with our members.
Because these families had HSLDA on their side, they didn’t have to spend thousands of dollars in legal fees to defend themselves. They didn’t feel compelled to comply with unlawful demands simply to avoid conflict. Instead, they were able to stand firm, knowing they had experienced advocates backing them every step of the way.
But here’s the truth: this kind of protection is only possible because of generous supporters like you.
Cases like these demonstrate how your generosity is advocacy. When you support HSLDA, you join us in standing with homeschooling families in courtrooms across the country. You help us challenge unlawful actions, defend parents’ rights, and ensure that homeschooling families are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve.
I want to defend more families like these!
For the families in Pennsylvania who answered their doors to find school officials demanding to see their children, your support made all the difference. They didn’t have to face that intrusion alone. They had HSLDA—and they had you.
Will you consider making a gift today to help us continue providing this kind of representation for families across the country?
Thank you for standing with us,