Have any Santa Rosa County school officials ordered the termination of any home education programs and demand students attend public school? Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) Attorney Thomas J Schmidt sent a letter out saying three families so far received correspondence from the Santa Rosa County School District (SRSD) to this effect. School officials say they’re not terminating any home school program, but a letter from the Santa Rosa Blended Academy with the addressee redacted does indicate the district is terminating the individual’s request to “file your intent to home school” and says, “You have three days to register your student in public or private school.”
Schmidt says, in his letter, the families who received the school’s letter just moved to the county and submitted the “legally required information, notifying the school district that they had established a home education program.” However, he says the notification asked for proof of residency as well as “the child’s social security number, grade level, race, home and cell phone numbers, email address, and last school attended.”
The Notification of Intent to Establish a Home Education Program form is available online and does ask for the things Schmidt mentioned. However, the race and social security number blanks are marked as optional.
Schmidt, in his letter, urges attendance of the November 17 Santa Rosa School District Board meeting to “explain why district officials must stop this harassment of homeschoolers.”
Laura Austin, principal of the Santa Rosa Blended Academy, said, “I’ve had parents saying (the SRSD) is ending home school education in Santa Rosa County. That’s not something we would want or even could do. It’s the parents’ choice and a state law.” She did say parents have to fill out the letter of intent. “This school year, back in April, we started requesting that Santa Rosa County proof of residency be accompanied with that or be sent in. I think a majority (of home school families) complied with no concern.”
Austin said SRSD is cracking down on those who move away and still use SRSD internet-based programs. “We have several resources home school students can utilize. A large percentage of parents and students have taken advantage of the Florida Virtual School, so proof of residency asks if you’re still really here. While (those resources) may be free, they’re not free to the district. We’ve found through several months that families have moved off but still use the resources.”
Austin went on to reiterate the school district is pleased to serve home school students and parents and never had an issue of any nature at all since home schooling came about in the 70s and 80s. “I just want to make sure that point is made. We have a whole department with employees dedicated to (home schooling).”
According to the Alternative Academic Programs website at www.santarosa.k12.fl.us/aap, home school information for the county “is now housed under Santa Rosa Blended Academy.” Austin said the Blended Academy is the umbrella over home schooling as well as the Santa Rosa Online and Florida Virtual Schools.
Find the Notification of Intent to Establish a Home Education Program, the district’s letter terminating an individual’s request to file intent to home school, and Schmidt’s letter with this story online as well.
This is a still-evolving story as the School Board will apparently hear from those in the home schooling community November 17, so keep following the Press Gazette.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Attorney says three home school families told to end program