Table of Content
If you receive a written request, respond with a letter of assurance. If you do not respond to a written request in a timely manner, the school district can file truancy charges against you for lack of cooperation. It is important to note that you are not required to complete any requirements except to submit a valid notice of withdrawal. If the school subsequently contacts you and says you must do more (e.g., come to the school office, fill out a form, present curriculum for review), you are not required to comply. On June 15, 1994, after a nine-year court battle, the Texas Supreme Court in TEA v. Leeper issued a 9-0 decision guaranteeing the right of Texas parents to teach their children at home without fear of prosecution. If your child has never attended public school you can simply keep them home and homeschool.
THSC believes that parents should be empowered to raise and educate their children as the next generation of leaders. As a THSC member, we support your family to do just that! If not, check out our membership benefits that are Keeping Texas Families Free.
The Importance of Recordkeeping in Texas
Must notify the state each year, portfolio, must have an annual review , and can participate in extracurricular activities w/school. Annual testing, or evaluation of the portfolio and student. Reading, writing, speaking, mathematics, history, civics, literature, science, and the Constitution of the United States. If you’re an HSLDA member, please contact our Legal Team for specific advice about how state home education laws apply in your specific situation. Complete the form below and get access to our Homeschool Family Resource Guide and more! Join us on Thursday, Sept. 3 at 2pm ET to learn the benefits of working with a homeschool academy.
A person who has not received the required immunizations for reasons of conscience, including a person's religious beliefs, may be excluded from school in times of emergency or epidemic. Texas Administrative Code, Title 25 §§97.61 through 97.72. A school district must ensure that records or transcripts of a transfer student from a Texas nonpublic school are evaluated and that the student is placed in appropriate classes promptly.
Texas Homeschooling Memo
Will you be living in another state longer than a month while that state’s public schools are in session? HSLDA generally recommends that you comply with that state’s homeschool requirements. This general recommendation applies even if you and/or your spouse pay taxes, own property, and/or have employment in a different state. As you make your plan, it can be helpful to know what is expected of your student’s traditionally schooled peers in Texas. Time4Learning offers the following chart which will help you compare Texas public school and homeschool graduation requirements at a glance.
The Texas Attorney General’s office has also stated that homeschool students are entitled to child support benefits according to the same rules as other students. The most common services provided that homeschool parents take advantage of are speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy or reading services. These services will be recommended in the student’s Individualized Education Program after the evaluation is conducted with the child at the parent’s consent.
How to Transfer from Homeschool to Public School
Homeschool families, like all families in Texas who own property, must pay local property taxes. Property owners who have no children are also required by law to pay property taxes to support public schools. All teachers in accredited private schools must be "highly qualified," but each accrediting agency is allowed to define what that means as part of its approval process.
Private school students must be screened to detect vision and hearing disorders and any other special senses or communication disorders specified by the executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Must have a high school diploma, must notify annually with identification, education plan, and immunization records. Must maintain an annual record of student courses and assessments. Homeschooling parents must have a high school diploma/equivalent or be monitored by a certified teacher for 2 years. High school students may qualify for a state-approved diploma if they meet the graduation requirements with documentation. Therefore, bona fide homeschools would meet the enrollment requirement that any Texas VA office might have.
Curriculum and Instruction
Texas is a homeschool-friendly state in that there are basically no requirements. In fact, Texas is one of the 36 states in the US that has no parent qualifications for homeschooling. The state also does not regulate the number of days per year of instruction, nor does it require a minimum number of hours to homeschool each day. School districts have no authority to approve or not approve curricula used for homeschooling, and homeschool students in Texas are not required to take any standardized tests, including the STAAR tests. Please note that according to U.S. military policy, homeschoolers are required to have been homeschooled for at least nine consecutive months prior to graduating as a homeschool student. The U.S. Army policy differentiates between homeschools and “independent study,” which may take place at home but award diplomas based on assessment and testing and do not involve parental instruction.
In Texas, an endorsement is an indication of one or more areas of study during high school and is typically included on the final high school transcript. Currently in Texas, these endorsements are STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics), Business & Industry, Public Service, Arts, & Humanities, and Multidisciplinary Studies. A student can legally graduate through either of the above methods. Offer character witnesses who know you and who can testify to your ability and commitment to the children and to your success in teaching them at home. If you are in the midst of a divorce or custody dispute, there are actions you can take to promote and protect your ability to homeschool.
The accrediting agency may choose to use the Texas state teacher certification or may develop its own standards, as long as they are higher than those for the Texas state teacher certification. The accrediting agency also has the option of recognizing out-of-state credentials. Homeschool students may participate in the local public school extra-curriculars, such as band, if the local school board allows it. The state suggests parents complete the Intent to Homeschool form for each child annually and submit it to the Superintendent’s office for signature, but asks parents to check with their local school district.
In 1995, Texas parents won the right to teach driver education to their own children. Texas became the first state with mandated driver education to allow parents to teach their own children. The Texas Education Code gives homeschool parents the freedom to teach their children driver education courses. Homeschooling is very common while involved in a custody agreement. Oftentimes, according to Texas law, one parent is normally given the authority to make educational decisions in a custody agreement, and some parents do choose to homeschool even when a custody agreement is in place.
Be aware that if your child is in public without you and your city has a daytime curfew, you may encounter law enforcement officers who might want an explanation. It is a criminal offense to possess or consume alcoholic beverages on a public street, alley, or sidewalk within 1,000 feet of a facility that the person knows is a private school offering k–12 instruction. Parochial and private schools are expected to observe Texas Week the week of March 2. Students attending a private or parochial school are exempt from compulsory attendance at a public school if the school includes in its course a study of good citizenship. No one from the public school is supposed to check on you or your children.
No comments:
Post a Comment