• What You Should Know:

  Requirements beyond a child’s name, address, and age as of September 30 of the school year are inconsistent with the law as determined by the Virginia Supreme Court.

• If a public school district wishes to obtain information outside that prescribed by the law from parents of private schooled, tutored, or homeschool children, it is appropriate to indicate the request as “Optional.”

• Homeschool evidence of progress is not required when the individual is under the age of six as of September 30 of the school year.

• Parents may choose from several options to show evidence of progress, including a nationally normed, standardized achievement test or an evaluation or assessment that the division superintendent determines to indicate that the child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth and progress. Please see HEAV’s Law Flowchart in the Resources section below.

• Portfolios are not included as options to show evidence of progress in the law. Parents may, however, provide a portfolio to a qualified evaluator. The evaluator reviews the portfolio and provides a statement to the superintendent indicating their determination that an adequate level of educational growth and progress has been achieved.

What You Should Know:

• All parents are encouraged to contact HEAV for accurate information and forms relating to Virginia’s home education laws. Please remember, it is the parent who is ultimately responsible for knowing and ensuring their compliance with the law.
• To assist parents in ensuring their compliance with the compulsory attendance and home instruction laws, we encourage use of HEAV’s Notice of Intent form. It is consistent with the law, case law, and VDOE guidance.
• Parents must comply with the law. Public school districts can not add requirements to the law; only the state legislature may do so.
• Individuals who have a Virginia teaching license may either file to become a Virginia-certified tutor or teacher under the compulsory attendance law, or they may submit a Notice of Intent to homeschool under the home instruction law.

What You Should Know:

• Students who are educated through an online private school, a Virginia-certified tutor, and religious exemption must contact the College Board to seek out availability and access to AP, PSAT, and PreACT exams through local public and private schools.
• Unfortunately, these students may be unable to locate access to these important exams, or they may be refused access by their local public and private schools. As such, they may experience a disadvantage in accessing scholarships and meeting their goals for college and career.
• HEAV is currently pursuing legislation to ensure AP, PSAT/NMSQT, and PreACT exams are accessible to all students. Be sure to sign up for HEAV Legislative Updates to stay up-to-date and write to your delegate and senator to petition their support.
• In the meantime, students who can not access AP, PSAT, and PreACT exams might consider the online Classic Learning Test (CLT) as an alternative.

What You Should Know:

• It is essential for parents to retain proof of compliance with the home instruction law and to document and save all correspondence (email, phone, etc.) with public school districts.
• HEAV encourages parents to make a copy of their Notice of Intent (NOI) and evidence of progress and retain proof of the office’s receipt. Proof of receipt is a certified mail receipt, a time-date stamp from an email, or a dated signature confirming hand-delivered documents.
• Truancy cannot be assumed when a district has not received a NOI or evidence of progress. It is the district’s responsibility to investigate each circumstance in a thorough and timely manner—at the time of occurrence—to ensure Virginia’s education laws are being implemented and enforced properly.
• The law does not require parents to contact their superintendent when they are no longer homeschooling. However, parents may choose to do so, as a courtesy, to assist the superintendent’s office in keeping its records updated.

What You Should Know:

• Public school districts do not have statutory authority to approve a parent’s decision to provide home instruction, just as districts do not approve or grant permission to parents who enroll their child in a private school or have their child taught by a Virginia-certified tutor or teacher.
• Use of terminology that is inconsistent with the law—implying parents must make a request or receive approval to homeschool—can have serious consequences for parents and children, depending on the circumstance.
• The home instruction law requires parents to notify the superintendent of their intent to homeschool and provide evidence of their compliance. Upon receipt of a Notice of Intent, the superintendent ensures parents have complied with the home instruction law. Some superintendents provide a letter acknowledging compliance, but the law does not require them to do so.
• The home instruction law states parents may use “…any nationally normed standardized achievement test, or an equivalent score on the ACT, SAT, or PSAT test” when submitting evidence of progress.
• The compulsory attendance law is based on the age of a student—not a public school grade-level system or the completion of a parent-assigned homeschool program or curriculum.
• Homeschool evidence of progress is not required when the individual:
  • is under the age of six as of September 30 of the school year;
  • has reached his 18th birthday;
  • has obtained a high school diploma;
  • moves out of the public school district or state; or
  • is complying with compulsory attendance through a different compliance option.

What You Should Know:

• The home instruction law provides several EOP options for parents to choose from. The law requires parents to comply with only one of these options.
• Districts cannot require evidence of progress when the student:
  • is under the age of six as of September 30 of the school year;
  • no longer lives in the school district;
  • has otherwise complied with compulsory school attendance requirements;
  • has reached his 18th birthday; or
  • has obtained a high school diploma or its equivalent.
• The home instruction law does not require parents to use public school district forms or provide personal information beyond their child’s name, address, and age as of September 30.
• The VDOE’s Home Instruction Handbook provides the following evidentiary guidance for processing option (iii) notifications:
  • “If the child is enrolled in a correspondence course or distance learning program, the parent must submit evidence of such enrollment and a list of the subjects to be studied for the coming year to the school division; however, no judgment of the materials is required of the school division superintendent.” (emphasis added)
  • If the parent “provides a program of study or curriculum that is delivered through any other manner, a list of the courses to be studied for the coming year must be submitted to the school division. Submission of these materials is for information purposes only.” (emphasis added)
• In Sosebee v. Franklin County School Board, the Supreme Court of Virginia concluded school districts cannot add requirements to the law; only the state legislature may do so.
• Individuals with a current Virginia teaching license may either file to be recognized as a Virginia-certified tutor or teacher under the compulsory attendance law or comply with Notice of Intent option (ii) in the home instruction law.

What You Should Know:

• • In Sosebee v. Franklin County School Board, the Supreme Court of Virginia concluded school districts cannot add requirements to the law; only the state legislature may do so.
  • Requirements for information beyond a child’s name, address, and age as of September 30 of the school year are inconsistent with the law.
  • The homeschool law does not require parents to use a specific form (paper or online). It also does not prescribe a particular delivery method for homeschool correspondence. Parents may, for example, write a letter to notify their superintendent and send correspondence through certified mail.
  • The Notice of Intent is a legal document. It cannot be rejected on the basis of a local public school district’s office preferences.
  • To assist parents in ensuring their compliance with the compulsory attendance and home instruction laws, we encourage use of HEAV’s Notice of Intent form. It is consistent with the law, case law, and VDOE guidance. Additionally, the guidance found on our website, HEAV.org, can help protect you from unnecessary compliance challenges.

What You Should Know:

• Requirements beyond a child’s name, address, and age as of September 30 of the school year are inconsistent with the law as determined by the Virginia Supreme Court.
• The law does not require parents to comply with a local public school office’s processing preferences including preferred submission dates, submission formats, or delivery methods.
• Parents are required to comply with the statutory deadlines indicated in the home instruction law, not the deadline preferences of their local public school office.
• party aggrieved by a decision of the division superintendent may appeal his decision within 30 days to an independent hearing officer. The independent hearing officer shall be chosen from the list maintained by the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court for hearing appeals of the placements of children with disabilities” (emphasis added).