What do the Home Education Regulations Really Say?

By Bruce D. Purdy, CHEO Executive Director

        It’s that time of year again.  As a new school year begins, we are obliged to comply with the current school regulations.  Especially for those who are just beginning to home educate their children, these tasks can sometimes seem daunting.  What am I supposed to send?  When am I required to submit my notification?  Who do I send it to?  Alas, many local school districts make the task more difficult by requesting (or demanding) the parent submits information not required by the regulations. 

I annually receive a number of letters from concerned parents where the local superintendent has sent them a letter asking for “additional information.”  I thought I would address some of these requests in this article and attempt to answer them so that all of you have a better understanding of what you are required to submit and what information is not required.  Most of these letters came either directly from parents or else from HSLDA.  This is one reason why I STRONGLY encourage you to join HSLDA before you begin home educating.  With a simple call to HSLDA and a copy of the letter faxed to them, they will respond to the superintendent and resolve the issue for you.  For further information about HSLDA and how they can serve you, see the additional article in this issue of the OHSC.

I will structure this article in a statement and response format, quoting the actual text from a letter sent to a home school parent and then respond to that specific request.  If you have further questions, feel free to contact the CHEO office or call your CHEO Regional Representative.  If you don’t know who that person is, please see the FYI section of this publication. 

Dear Parents:

As a reminder, please submit your curriculum, assessment, evaluation documentation to this office on or before July 30, 1999.

The issue of when to notify is addressed here.  You do NOT have to submit your notification materials by an arbitrary date specified by the superintendent.  The notification form must be submitted by the time school starts in your local district.  As an example, if school starts in your local district on August 25^th, you must have the notification form in the superintendent’s hand by that date.  If school has begun and your child is not in attendance and the superintendent has not received your notification form, your child will be considered truant.  I would HIGHLY suggest that you send your materials certified mail with a return receipt.  This gives you proof that the materials were received and the date which they were received.  This date issue could be critical because the regulations state “The superintendent shall review the information submitted within fourteen calendar days of receipt thereof and shall determine if it is in compliance with…” 

Dear Parent:

…Keep in mind the achievement test or the written narrative must be administered or prepared by a certified teacher or another person mutually agreed upon by the parents and the superintendent.

What has happened here is that the school district is mixing up the requirements for the assessment options into one package.  There are separate and distinct requirements for each assessment option.  The regulations define the following guidelines for the achievement test option:  …such test shall be administered by: 1) a certified teacher, 2) another person mutually agreed upon by the parents and the superintendent, or 3) a person duly authorized by the publisher of the test.  As you can see, the letter above “forgot” to mention the third option.  Diana Fessler, in her excellent resource Home Education: Answers for Ohio Parents, defines duly authorized as “permission received from the publisher of the test”.  A certified teacher must perform the written narrative option, but the achievement does not have to be administered by a certified teacher (though it may be). 

Dear Parents:

I have reviewed the home education notification form…find that I need a copy of the high school diploma and or certificate of high school equivalence of the individual who will be teaching…

Here the district is requesting a copy of the high school diploma from the parent doing the teaching.  Again, Diana Fessler’s book states “The regulations do not require a copy of any credentials.  The parent’s word is their bond.”  When the parent checks off that that they assure the district they have one of the listed credentials (3301-34-03 (A)(9)), they affirm it by signing the letter or form.  To affirm means to “declare positively, to maintain to be true.”    When you sign the form, you affirm that all the information is correct and true.  Two additional comments I would like to make here.  First, this same principle applies to question #8 regarding your assurance that 900 hours of home education will occur.  You do NOT have to provide any records to the district confirming this; your signature is your assurance that you will do it.  Secondly, we encourage parents not to specify what “credential” they have.  The primary reason being it gives the district superintendent an attitude of “well sure, this parent can teach, she has a Master’s degree, but this other parent doesn’t even have a high school diploma herself.”  It lends credence to an attitude of comparison that has been proven not to exist.  A number of studies have shown that the education level of the parent has very little (if any) bearing on the academic achievement of the child.   

To:  Mr. & Mrs. …..

This is certifying that your application for the home schooling of the following student(s) has been approved.  The above mentioned students will be required to participate in the annual assessment program provided by our school district.

There are two issues I wish to address in this letter.  First, the Notification Form is not an “application”, we are not asking for permission or approval.  The parent is notifying the district that the child is not in school because they have chosen to home educate the child.  The superintendent is only required to “review the information” and “determine if it is compliance with the provisions” of the regulations regarding notification.  Secondly, as of this time, the home school child is not required to participate in any assessment program offered by the local district.  Home school students are NOT required to participate in proficiency tests required by public school students.  On a side note regarding this testing issue and our current freedoms to home educate, I read a recent PhiDeltaKappa/Gallup Poll on The Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools.  Two of the questions in the poll were interesting because of their focus on home education.  The question was asked “Would you favor or oppose requiring children who are schooled at home to take all the state and national assessment tests that public school students are required to take?”  The answer was that 92% of those polled favored home school students to take the same tests!  I think this simply survey shows that we still have a long way in going in educated the general public to the issue of individual freedoms that home school families value so highly.  It also should cause us to all be extremely cautious in wanting to have ANY involvement with the local school district.  It would not take a stretch of the imagination to see that districts would quickly put restrictions like additional testing on all home schoolers. 

Dear Mr. & Mrs. …

Please be informed that the updated Board of Education Regulations regarding Home Educated students state that the written narrative indicating that a portfolio of samples of the child’s work has been reviewed by a certified teacher must now include specific examples of the child’s progress.

First, be aware that the Regulations have NOT been revised, updated or changed in ANY WAY since they were approved by the State Board of Education in August 1989.  If anyone tells that they have changed, please ask them for a specific ruling or Bill number to reference.  Until the State Board of Education revises the Regulations in any way or the Ohio General Assembly passes a Bill, home educators only have to follow the current Regulations as they were originally approved.  Second, specific examples of the child’s work do not have to be sent to the district.  Only a letter from the certified teacher stating that the child’s work has been reviewed and that the child’s progress is in accordance with the child’s abilities.