I know people who homeschool in Mililani and never heard about this. Hopefully it affected only a few of us and the school involved now understands the law. But, it's always good to know our rights so we can deal with our school district if they overstep their bounds like this.

Schools Demand Approval of Year-End Test

Each year homeschool families receive letters from school officials offering to test their children at their local public school. This year has been no different. Some parents, however, have received letters warning that if they want to test their children outside of the public school they must get approved to do so.

For instance, Home School Legal Defense Association member families in Mililani received a letter this year from the local elementary school. The letter stated that parents were required to contact the school within two weeks if they intended to use a privately administered test instead of bringing their children to the school to be tested.

Under Hawaii law parents are required to provide an annual progress report to the local public school at the end of the school year. In grades 3, 5, 8, and 10 a child must be tested either by the Hawaii State Assessment or any test that is “comparable to the appropriate criterion or norm-referenced tests used by the department.”

Parents only need to seek the approval of the school when they want to use a test that is not comparable. The Hawaii Administrative rules authorize the principal to approve other means of evaluation to meet the statewide testing program requirements.

HSLDA attorney Thomas Schmidt contacted the Mililani Uka Elementary School on behalf of all of our members. He advised the school that homeschool parents had the right to privately test their children without their approval.

If you receive a similar letter, please contact us.