Powhatan County

A licensed Virginia teacher, who filed correctly to become a Virginia Certified Tutor under §22.1-254(A), learned her tutor submission was being processed as a notice of intent to homeschool. Additionally, although she explained the law, district representatives persisted in efforts to obtain the full names and ages or birthdates of the students she would be teaching in order to report the data to the VDOE – a task they believed was their duty. Recognizing several errors in the implementation of the law, HEAV reached out regarding district policy.

HEAV learned the district erred in believing students who received instruction via a Virginia-certified tutor were considered homeschoolers under the home instruction statute. After providing clarification on the differences between these two laws, HEAV received feedback indicating the district will no longer request personal student data from Virginia-certified tutors or submit it to the VDOE on the homeschool numbers report.

HEAV is thankful to Powhatan for its positive and prompt response in resolving this concern as well as its commitment to the Virginia Code.

What You Should Know:

• Virginia-certified teachers can file with the superintendent to be recognized as a Virginia-certified tutor. Once acknowledged by the superintendent, they can teach their own children and be hired to teach other people’s children under §22.1-254(A).
• Neither private schools nor Virginia-certified tutors, nor the parents that use them, are required by the  law to provide personal student data to their local public school districts.
• In the case of home instruction, §22.1-254.1, the law allows the local public school superintendent to report to the state superintendent, “the number of students in the school division receiving home instruction.”
• Although districts may report the number of students receiving home instruction, the law does not require the student’s birthdates.
• The 2020 Virginia Supreme Court in Sosebee v. Franklin County School Board concluded public school districts cannot require information beyond what is required in the law; only the state legislature can do so. The homeschool statute does not require parents to fill out district forms or provide information that goes beyond what the statute requires.
• Reference: §22.1-254(A), HEAV Law Flowchart, 2023 HEAV Letter to Superintendents, HEAV Article: Certified Tutor Option, §22.1-254.1(G), Virginia Supreme Court Case: Sosebee v. Franklin County School Board