King William 8/14/24
HEAV immediately contacted the school board upon discovering an agenda attachment that directly named six children and five parents, including their grade levels and physical addresses. Although HEAV is thankful to the district for taking swift corrective action, we are reminded of the legislature’s continued failure to provide reasonable, student privacy protections by adding homeschoolers to the closed meeting exemptions already protecting public school student privacy.
Over the last two years, HEAV and HSLDA initiated HB1953 and HB873 – bills that would require school boards to have closed meetings when discussing personal information on homeschool documents or religious exemption letters unless parents objected. Both bills failed along party lines. HEAV intends to have such legislation introduced again during the 2025 session. Stay tuned!
What You Should Know:
- Get Involved! Sign up for HEAV Legislative Updates so you can stay up-to-date on legislative efforts that affect your homeschool protections and freedoms.
- The law states: “No division superintendent or local school board shall disclose to the Department or any other person or entity outside of the local school division information that is provided by a parent or student to satisfy the requirements of this section or subdivision B 1 of §22.1-254.”
Resources:
- HEAV Resource: HEAV Communications
- 2023 HEAV Legislative Presentation: HB1953 (4:29:27)
- HEAV Resource: Legislative Update, 2023 Final Report
- 2024 HEAV Legislative Presentation: HB873 (4:31:53)
- HEAV Resource: Legislative Update, 2024 General Assembly Outcome
- FOIA Law: §2.2-3711, Closed Meeting Exemptions
- Home Instruction Law: §22.1-254.1
- HEAV Resource: Law Flowchart
HEAV is always available should you ever have questions or need assistance. Please contact us anytime at 804-278-9200 or via our contact form.
Patricia Beahr
HEAV Assistant Director of Government Affairs