Wait, What? District Makes Enrolling in Public School a Condition to Homeschool

HSLDA’s legal team has a long history of pushing back against homeschool requirements that may seem reasonable to officials but aren’t supported by law. Then there are occasions when the red tape we have to unravel just doesn’t make any sense at all.

Over the last two years, school districts in Massachusetts and Rhode Island—the last two states that require “approval” of homeschool programs—have been telling families to register their children with the public school district before their homeschool paperwork will be reviewed and accepted.

Things flared up again in September, as families in five Rhode Island school districts contacted us for assistance. Each family filed all the documents required by state law. And each was told by district officials that they couldn’t homeschool until their children were first enrolled in the local public school and then withdrawn.

“Even in high regulation states like Rhode Island, there is a limit to what officials can demand from families in order to homeschool,” said Jim Mason, HSLDA president. “When situations like this occur, our decades of experience help us advocate quickly and effectively against government overreach.”

No explanation

One of the parents we helped decided to homeschool after her daughter began experiencing anxiety when away from home. The girl had been attending a private school since kindergarten.

Last school year, while helping her daughter cope with this new emotional challenge, Victoria Suits noticed her daughter seemed especially engaged while doing schoolwork at home. So this August, Victoria filed a notice with her local Rhode Island public school district to announce her intention to homeschool her daughter for the  4th grade.

Officials responded with several demands. They told Victoria to submit her curriculum for review, sign an agreement, and register her daughter in public school. The final requirement struck Victoria as absurd.

“Why does it make any sense to register my daughter when we’re just going to pull her out?” Victoria asked. She added that it seemed the district was imposing the requirement to extract as much information about her family as possible.

Victoria tried to follow up with school officials to understand their rationale. When these efforts failed, she asked her father to inquire on her behalf. He was told that, because Victoria had not been issued a homeschool approval letter, at some point her daughter would be considered habitually absent and at risk for truancy charges.

This information only added to Victoria’s anxiety over the unresolved situation.

“It was nerve-racking,” she recalled. “I was having sleepless nights.”

Voice of reason

At this point Victoria contacted HSLDA for help.

We partnered with a local attorney, who has assisted us with Rhode Island issues for many years, to reach out to officials in the district where Victoria lives. As we have done with other Rhode Island districts, we objected to this circuitous attempt to obtain from homeschooling families information that officials don’t need and have no right to request.

“Unfortunately, officials often claim they need a family to register because they don’t know they live in the town, but then they mail a letter to the family’s address, asking them to register,” explained Peter Kamakawiwoole, HSLDA’s director of litigation.

There’s also a commonsense objection to demands like this: “No one would demand that a student attending a private school be enrolled in a public school first,” Kamakawiwoole said, “but that is exactly what districts are demanding of homeschooling families.”

Making homeschooling parents fill out the entire form for public school enrollment, he added, also forces them to provide information that they aren’t required to provide, and have no bearing on homeschooling (like what languages the family speaks at home, or their preferred bussing schedule).

Safe and learning

School officials never responded to the objections in our letter, but they did respond with a different letter: an approval letter for Victoria, backdated to September 14.

Resolving the standoff with officials brought more than just emotional relief, said Victoria. Gone are the sleepless nights; she’s now able to focus on providing a custom education for her daughter, which includes opportunities to explore local museums and the New England seaside.

“She’s always had a love for learning,” Victoria said of her daughter. Homeschooling has allowed her to learn in the environment where she feels most at ease.

“It’s great for me, and it’s been a total game-changer for her,” Victoria added. “It’s wonderful watching that glow in her face as she discovers something new.”

While we’re grateful that Victoria’s district saw reason, families in other districts are still waiting for their approval letters, and new families have continued to contact us about unlawful demands for registration and other paperwork as recently as this month.

We will update you as this story progresses.