Back to school is just around the corner and with is comes requests and demands for home schoolers to register....Oh, no! Oh, NO! indeed! For veteran home educators, this may seem old hat. But for new home schoolers, the "threat is in the mail" type of letter can be unnerving. Usually this request is to secure more federal tax dollars thru the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) federal program. The primary thing you need to know as a home educator is that you don't have to tell the school district ANYTHING. If you have ALREADY filed a voluntary declaration per 167.042 (FHE recommends you do not, and if you have, that you discontinued filing any future declarations), the district should already have access to all the information they need for this year. If you have never filed one, don't, and you can't be required to do so. These "declarations" provide the only counts the districts can legally use, according to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). Withdrawal letters (in FHE’s format) don't count. And the districts have no legal mandate or authority to "know the status of every child in their district." So, if you get such a letter, phone call, or see a notice in the paper (the latest trend is to put an ad in the classifieds claiming home schoolers have to contact the school), don't respond or answer questions. If you are an HSLDA member, call them first. Then call FHE and let us know which school district (district number, name of persons making the contact if known) is involved. This is the statute which applies to the optional “Declaration of Enrollment”, RSMo 167.042: “For the purpose of minimizing unnecessary investigations due to reports of truancy, Armed with information about your rights, you can enjoy the fall, instead of the fallout! |
Homeschool Virtual Conference 2024
Kim Quon
8/2/2024
SB 727 & HB 2287 - Governor Signed
Kim Quon
5/8/2024
Heads UP - School Withdrawal
FHE
8/17/2023
SB 411 & 230 Final Update
FHE
5/15/2023
Action Needed - SB 255
FHE
2/26/2023
Homeschool Day at the Capitol-Celebrating 40 Years
FHE
2/18/2023
2022 FHE Graduate Hall of Fame
FHE
7/7/2022
MoScholar Program
FHE
7/1/2022
FHE Action Alert - SB 681 / Final Outcome
FHE
5/20/2022
FHE Action Alert - HB 2211 / Calls and emails needed
FHE
4/20/2022
Missouri Empowerment Program Rules Update
FHE
4/13/2022
ALERT - Missouri Empowerment Scholarship
FHE
3/11/2022
New Ambassador Program
FHE
12/29/2021
HB 349 and SB 86 - Signed July 14, 2021
FHE
7/15/2021
Membership Drive Winner
FHE
7/15/2021
Missouri Celebration Contest
FHE
3/6/2021
Thank you for attending the 2021 FHE Homeschool Day at the Capitol!!!!
FHE
3/4/2021
2021 FHE Homeschool Day at the Capitol - Jefferson City, Missouri
FHE
1/21/2021
Need Some Answers??
FHE
3/18/2020
Thank you for making the 2020 Homeschool Day at the Capitol a success!
FHE
3/4/2020
2020 Homeschool Day at the Capitol - Jefferson City, MO
FHE
1/27/2020
SAVE THE DATE--2020 FHE HOMESCHOOL DAY AT THE CAPITOL- Jefferson City, MO
FHE
1/6/2020
Attention!!
FHE
10/18/2019
"Declaration of Enrollment" Requests
FHE
7/2/2019
2019 FHE High School Planning Parties
FHE
5/30/2019
4/2/2019 HB 1139 Update
FHE
4/8/2019
Attention!!
FHE
3/27/2019
Thank you for Attending!
FHE
3/9/2019
2019 FHE Rally at the Capitol Rotunda - Jefferson City, MO
FHE
2/2/2019
Update regarding the Cooper County (Bunceton) R-IV School District Homeschool Policy
FHE
8/20/2018
FHE High School Planning Parties
FHE
5/17/2018
Missouri Homeschool Coops/Support Groups
FHE
4/20/2018
New FHE Facebook Pages
FHE
3/12/2018
2018 Capitol Rally Thank You!!
FHE
3/7/2018
2018 Capitol Rally
FHE
2/8/2018
Brian D. Ray, Ph.D., from NHERI will be speaking in Missouri in February
FHE
1/14/2018
2018 Missouri General Session convenes January 3, 2018
FHE
1/1/2018