The homeschool network is very strong in RI. If you don't play fair, your district will be noted as such all over the message boards and the media will hear about it. You need to sit at a table and really hear the concerns in front of you.ģ) There are 1200 homeschoolers in the state of Rhode Island. That means you need to answer your emails, return phone calls and send out notices. That means it is your obligation to follow the law just like homeschoolers are required to.Ģ) It is your job to communicate with the public. Let me say that again, School committees report TO THE PARENTS. In the mean time, here are some things for administrators and school committees members to think about.ġ) School Committees report to the parents. And then families homeschool approvals were denied and contact was cut off and we received word that they decided not to change to the policy based on our suggestions. We were hopeful when we were invited to rewrite the policy. Even pointed out Commissioner of Education rulings on areas of their policy that were beyond the scope of the law. We spent months with officials speaking out against an unlawful policy. We are awaiting outcome.Īnd then there is the current district we are working in. ![]() Again, parents met with administrators, spoke out at the school committee meetings, sought legal counsel and eventually all the homeschoolers were approved.Ī Northern district has recently sent a truant officer (twice) to a homeschoolers home after she refused to submit information to them that is not required by law. Each time homeschoolers refused and still more letters came. Then there was West Warwick where over 30 (or so) families applications were held for months on end as administrators sent letter after letter requesting more information. The parents then returned to the public forum and spoke out in front of 200 people on these mis-steps so that their voice would be heard in hopes that other districts would not follow suit. The family was finally approved at the next committee meeting in executive session with no apologies, no explanation, no nothing. This family sought legal counsel and the matter was quickly dropped. Very quickly after her denial letter was sent, a truant officer came to her home, no paperwork, no nothing and promptly filed a truancy petition in family court. They gave false information about this family at committee meetings and denied her homeschool request. When the homeschooler did submit an age for her child, CHARIHO cut off all contact, did not answer emails or phone calls, and mixed up her 2 children's approvals in committee meetings. They also approved her other child without this information so the inconsistencies were vast. CHARIHO school district denied a RI homeschooler based on her not providing a grade level or age. And I name these districts as all of this information is a matter of public knowledge and access. Let's start with the difficulties and incidents this year. I have attend 6 meetings with school superintendents, I have met with homeschoolers regarding unlawful policy too many times to count and have sent 397 emails (yes, I counted them) about policy. I have written at least 18 certified letters to school committees speaking out against unlawful policy. This year in Rhode Island has been a disaster. For now, let's focus on the homeschoolers. We'll discuss "application" in the next post.Ī post on the ins and outs of state statutes would have to be a series of posts because of the legalities and the explanation needed. And to a certain extent, the Department of Education in RI leaves it up to the individual districts to create their own "application" for homeschooling. ![]() The elephant in the room however is the State Statutes which are vague to administrators and very clear to homeschoolers. ![]() Homeschoolers follow the law each year-in some respects it's pretty easy. Most districts approve us without difficulty, we submit the required standard letter of intent when we begin homeschooling and wait for our approval letter (if we even receive one as some districts don't even send that). And we have 32 districts in the small state. In Rhode Island, homeschoolers report at the local level, meaning each district. This will be the first in a series of articles on homeschooling. Instead, all of those joys have been stepped on by perceived authority and power from school committees. It has nothing to do with my kids or the teaching or the fabulous homeschool group I run. It's too hard, too stressful, too upsetting. I can no longer advocate that you homeschool.at least in the state of Rhode Island.
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