Confirms students are not bound day-to-day by
public school calendar
In a dispute with state school officials, the
Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled that a homeschooling family is free to set its
own school calender, as long as it meets the requirement for class hours.
As
WND reported, school officials
demanded that Eric and Gail Thacker and their children be charged with truancy,
because the family started its homeschool year in November.
However, in its opinion, the state Supreme Court
agreed “that the Thackers could complete the required instructional hours in
the school year.”
HSLDA Senior Counsel James R. Mason III said the ruling affirmed the principle that parents are in charge of their children’s education.
“The court rejected the prosecutor’s argument
that children are presumed to be enrolled in the public school until their
homeschool paperwork is completed,” he said. “We’re thankful that the justices
gave this case such thoughtful consideration in reaffirming the rights of
homeschooling parents.”
The family’s scheduled was out of sync because
of a move, a scheduled second move and other circumstances.
Under Nebraska law, homeschools operate as
exempt private schools and are only required to provide 1,032 hours of
elementary education to children between July 1 and the following June 30.
To the family’s understanding, first-time exempt
homeschools could be established at any start date.
Shortly after their move to Nebraska, the
Thacker family was considering a move to another state, but the plan changed.
Due to their uncertain living situation, the parents opted to begin their
homeschooling year in November. In compliance with Nebraska law, the Thackers
filed their notice with the Nebraska Department of Education at the end of
September with a calendar mapping out their curriculum, which included a
November start date to the academic year.
The notice also showed how the parents would
provide more than 1,300 hours of instruction to their children over the course
of the 2011-2012 school year.
However, before the NDE was able to acknowledge
receipt of the exempt-homeschool notice, the family received a court summons because
their children had not attended the local public school, which began in
mid-August, HSLDA reported.
The state accepted the homeschool-exempt status
and acknowledged that the family was in compliance with the law, but
nevertheless, the parents were charged with truancy for every day that the
public school had been in session until the state’s acknowledgement of the
parental plan in October.
HSLDA attorneys found two glaring problems with
the state’s case: How could the Thackers be charged with absences from a public
school that their children were never enrolled in? Secondly, the state requires
every kind of school to provide 1,032 hours of instruction sometime during the
school year, but does not dictate the start or end date.
Prosecutors had argued the children were
“presumed to be enrolled” in public school unless their parents take them out.
The county court agreed with the state and found the Thackers guilty of
violating the laws, a Class III misdemeanor.
HSLDA appealed to the district court, which
threw out the conviction, “noting that the Nebraska law has no deadline for
commencing an exempt school for the first time.” The ruling also said that the
Thackers’ exempt homeschool had ample time to complete the 1,032 hours of
instruction before the end of the school year – in accordance with the calendar
they had provided.
However, the state refused to accept the ruling
and appealed.
The
high court said, “We conclude that
[statute] 79-201 did not criminalize the Thackers’ failure to enroll their
children in a legally recognized school pending the state’s recognition of
their homeschool.
“The state … argues that until a parent obtains
the state’s recognition of a private homeschool, the child must be attending
some legally recognized school during the public school calendar year. And it
argues …the state’s recognition of a private homeschool is not effective until
the department receives a parent’s notarized statement of intent,” the justices
wrote.
“The Thackers contend [the law] only required
them to have their children attend their exempt homeschool every day that it
was in session and to complete the minimum hours of instruction required by
law. They argue that Nebraska’s statutes do not preclude them from starting a
homeschool after the public school calendar year begins or compel them to
enroll their children in a public school until their homeschool begins
operation.
“We agree with the Thackers,” the justices said.
“Under the law as written, we do not agree that
a child must be attending a recognized exempt school each day of the public
school calendar year.”
Source: World News Daily, WND, by Bob Unruh, 5/31/13
Read
more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/05/court-sides-with-homeschoolers-in-schedule-fight/#xH3EKXvDSe4JxuD8.99
Comments:
Educational
content should be controlled by parents.
Homeschooling certainly meets that standard.Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
No comments:
Post a Comment