Utterly Meaningless

I am part of the small group of homeschoolers that has worked so hard to get this change to happen (that’s me quoted at the end of the article), and I wanted to say that it feels so good when that hard work and determination pays off! I am relatively new to homeschooling (the last 3 years or so), and aside from significantly improving the regulations in our county school system (getting rid of this “approval before removal” reg and also pushing for the enactment of partial enrollment for homeschoolers), the best thing about these past few years, to my mind, is the fact that we are developing a school board culture here that treats homeschoolers as citizens with rights and legitimate interests to be served. This positive working relationship that has started to form (out of what had formerly been an entrenched atmosphere of adversarial attitudes on the part of the school system) is of incalculable value to me and other homeschoolers in this county. As I look forward to many, many years of homeschooling here (my kids are 4 and 6), I hope that the precedents that are being set with the school board now will infuse the attitude of our new district schools superintendant and the entire relationship between the school system and county homeschoolers.

Amy Wilson

Shay or Amy, can you give us a little background? How did they get away with local regulation trumping state law for so long?

Tim, as I understand it, the school district’s attorney advised them that there was nothing illegal about the “approval before removal” regulation. No one ever filed suit, although some families were, I am told, harrassed when they removed their children without complying with the reg. (For example, Child Protective Services reports were filed.)

Fortunately, it appears that the situation is going to be resolved by local grassroots action, with no need for lawyers whatsoever!

Amy

>>an you give us a little background?>>

The issue began as a half-slip of paper stapled to the county’s HS packet in 2000, when the HS liason changed. At that time the approval before removal procedure was just a procedure; it wasn’t “codified” by the regulation. Initially, it caused no problem we were aware of, but in 2003, it came out that an attendance officer at a particular high school was using this informal procedure to harass parents who took their children out of school to begin HSing.
When I brought up the issue w/the school division, they defended it and Student Services set out to formalize it into a regulation–even though some of the board was opposed.

>How did they get away with local regulation trumping state law for so long?>

The wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly, and we did not have a sufficiently “aggrieved party” that was willing to fight it through legal channels, such as requesting an independent hearing. This was partly due to there being nothing that the school division could really do to the parents who ignored this regulation. They could not initiate truancy procedures or anything of consequence–aside from harassing the parents.

I’m another member of the group that fought to get the regulation changed. My children are ages 10, 5, and 2 and this is actually our first year homeschooling, although I had been considering it for some time. I’m a former teacher in PWC, and I’m very familiar with the roadblocks that can be put in place so easily.

I’m glad to have gotten this settled before the new superintendent steps in; I think we can now look forward to a much stronger, more positive relationship with the county.

My thanks to the diligent homeschoolers in Prince William County and the dedicated PWC School Board members who have worked so hard to get the illegal “approval before removal” regulation revised. As PWC homeschooler for 10 years, I greatly appreciate the increasing understanding and cooperation between homeschoolers, the PWC School Board and the PWC School administration that is the result of the efforts of our local community members.

Thanks, Amy and Shay. Much clearer now.

I was also a member of the group that worked for the change in regulation. I want to comment on how empowering it was to follow this process through to a positive conclusion. In the process, we developed working relationships with school board members (and each other) that we know will serve us in the future.
It was/is important to us to build these relationships as it was to effect a positive change in regulation.

Here’s another article about our coalition’s success:

School Board alters home-school policy
By Valerie Walker
06/16/2005

Parents wanting to remove their children from Prince William’s public schools no longer have to wait three days for the superintendent’s approval.

During the School Board’s policy meeting on June 8, the board members approved a change to their Home Instruction Policy.

The previous policy required parents to submit notice of their intent to home-school and then wait for the superintendent’s approval (to be provided within three days) before they could withdraw their children from school.

Home-schoolers contended that the previous policy, adopted last June, conflicted with state law.

Virginia Code section 22.1-241.1 states, “Any parent who … begins home instruction after the school year has begun shall notify the division superintendent of his intention to provide home instruction as soon as practicable.”

That section of the code also gives parents 30 days to reach full compliance with the state’s home-schooling requirements.

“We are hoping that the board has come to understand that the regulation goes against both state law and board policy, that there is no practical benefit in the three-day waiting period requirement, and that to retain it will ultimately have a considerable negative effect on the school division,” Shay Seaborne, a home-schooling advocate, said before the meeting.

The change was initiated by Don Richardson, the School Board’s representative from Gainesville.

“This is a change that removes a bone of contention,” Richardson said. “It makes for a more cooperative working environment” between home-schoolers and the public schools.

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