SB1031 Now Threatens ALL Homeschoolers

URGENT! Now is the time to come together and show strength.

Senator Stella Pekarsky has submitted yet another substitute bill (yes, a second substitute) that both removes religious exemption AND NOW dismantles Virginia’s current home instruction into a Frankenstein statute affecting over 62,000 students and their families statewide.

ACTION
Contact all senators on the Senate Committee on Education and Health NOW. Tell them to “VOTE NO” on SB1031.

Also, if you have not yet done so, please contact your own delegate and senator.

What happened today?
SB1031 was on the Senate Education Committee docket this morning. It was recommended to “go by for the day” with claims that the patron and committee suddenly had concerns about First Amendment religious freedom rights. Remember, just this Monday, the patron declared over and over her bill had nothing to do with religious freedom, calling our concerns “fake news.” She also claimed current home-instructed students would not be affected. 

Today’s SB1031 Substitute 2 1027003 was published online during the committee meeting without public mention. It not only removes Virginia’s religious exemption, but it also decimates the homeschool statute, § 22.1-254.1. It eliminates and replaces all current evidence of progress laws; removes the probationary period; gives new, broad, undefined authority to the superintendent to determine neglect in education or care; brings the courts into the fold; and removes all privacy protections for ALL homeschooled and religiously exempt minors and their families.

For more than 42 years, HEAV and homeschooling families have worked to define these rights and protections.

How does this affect religiously exempt families?

• There is no religious exemption for families with bona fide religious beliefs in SB1031.
• Parents with religious convictions must comply with the homeschool statute and the new requirements listed above, or they will be compelled to send their children to a public or private school or use a tutor.
• It removes all privacy protections for religiously exempt minors and their families.

How does this affect ALL homeschooling families? SB1031 does the following:

• Removes all privacy protections for homeschooling and religiously exempt minors and their families (This means all information provided through the Notice of Intent and evidence of progress is subject to public exposure.)
• Removes the stanine standard for evidence of progress on standardized achievement tests
• Eliminates the ACT, PSAT, and SAT equivalent testing options for high school homeschoolers
• Strips the option for an evaluation or assessment for students with special needs
• Eliminates the submission of a report card or transcript from an institution of higher education, college distance learning program, or home education correspondence course
• Removes the one-year probation period

What new requirements will be required of ALL homeschooling families?

• SB1031 will require the administration of standardized achievement tests or statewide assessments in reading or language arts and mathematics administered to all public school students, or locally developed assessments in reading or language arts and mathematics for grades three, five, and eight.

  Since Virginia doesn’t view home instruction in terms of grade, there are immediate problems in implementation.

• If evidence of a passing score is not submitted, the student will be examined for four consecutive years. To continue home instruction, the parent must either hire a tutor or teacher of qualifications at his own expense to supervise the child’s home education and provide remediation or instructional support for up to 180 consecutive teaching days OR the parent must file a remediation plan for the following year that indicates his program addresses educational deficiencies.
  Imagine the financial burden this unfunded mandate lofts on homeschool families!

What will cause home instruction to cease?
No parent who has filed a Notice of Intent will be compelled to stop home instruction solely based on

• failure to provide evidence of progress,
• the unilateral decision of the division superintendent, or
• any other failure or deficiency in complying with this section of the law.

If a division superintendent shows clear and convincing evidence that the child will suffer “neglect in his education or care” if home instruction is permitted, he may petition the circuit court and seek an order to stop homeschooling. This could strap a family with administrative burdens and legal expenses for years.

Our freedom is on the line!

As we warned when the bill dropped, this is an attack on ALL homeschoolers. Religious freedom and parental rights are under attack!

Now is the time to come together and show strength.

Write your senator and delegate today. It will be on the agenda for the committee hearing next Thursday, January 30, at 8:30 a.m.