By Gail Biby

 Originally published in the August 2007 issue of The Home School Report.

Editorial note: As I have often said in the past, nothing I say or write constitutes legal advice because I am not an attorney. These are my opinions and observations based on many years of experience. If you need legal advice, please contact an attorney familiar with home school law or our HSLDA attorney, Dee Black, if you are a member.

Though North Dakota remains one of the most restrictive states in the nation to homeschool (Pennsylvania is certainly more restrictive!), nevertheless the law is relatively easy to understand and to implement. There are certain vagaries and, I believe, some misinterpretations of the current law, with the State usually coming down on the side of the most restrictive interpretation. 

Homeschoolers do very well, thank you!

We must pray that God will allow a sensible, liberty-loving, and parental-rights-affirming law to be written and passed in the future. Homeschoolers have generally proven themselves repeatedly when it comes to academics. We even score higher on tests designed for government students, to test government curriculum. We are disproportionately represented in spelling bees and geography competitions. And we have proven that socialization is better learned from someone who knows what constitutes civilized socialization than from one’s government school peers (When was the last time you heard of a knife- or gun-wielding homeschool student killing his sibling classmates?)

History of the law

The law has gone through many changes since home schooling was finally legalized in 1989. Again, North Dakota was behind most of the rest of the country in taking this step. Almost every legislative session since then the regulations have been tweaked in some manner.  The attempt this past session to allow grandparents to home school though has no precedent to my knowledge. It was the worst case of legislative ineptness and perhaps even mean-spiritedness that I have seen. We can be very grateful for those courageous legislatives that recognized a wrong being done and did everything in their power to correct it. Nevertheless, the attempt proved futile. Again, let us pray that the lessons we learned in this skirmish are not soon forgotten.

The current law

In order to home school in North Dakota you must be the natural or adoptive parent of the child, qualify under one of four provisions, file an annual statement of intent and test the child in grades 4, 6, 8 and 10. You  must provide 4 hours of instruction for 175 days.

During the legislative session the Attorney General was asked for his opinion on whom may homeschool. The opinion in part stated, “only a qualified parent may provide instruction to that parent’s child and that a qualified parent may not supervise someone else who is providing instruction to the child.”  This opinion is problematic for many reasons, not the least of which is: It would not allow a qualified parent to include as part of the homeschool program anything which they did not directly teach. Think about it. That would mean your child’s violin lessons, pottery class, science center experiences, any field trips, piano lessons, local theater/drama endeavors, intra-city soccer, biology lab at your local school or a host of other activities could not be part of your child’s legitimate educational experience. Nonsensical, isn’t it?  This opinion must be challenged by clarifying the current law. So as it currently stands the home educator must be the natural or adoptive parent, if you wish to abide by the AG’s opinion.

Records

The parent educator is required to maintain an annual record of courses taken by the child and any progress assessments, including the standardized achievement test

results. That’s it. You do not need to keep copies of anything else for the perusal of anyone else. However, I strongly recommend the keeping of simple files containing representative work completed by the child. I would also keep the originals of the child’s proof of identity and immunization records.

Parental qualifications

The parent must meet one of the following qualifications:

·          Be a ND state certified teacher

·          Have a 4-year baccalaureate degree

·          Take a national teacher exam

·          Be monitored by a ND state certified teacher for 2 years

The baccalaureate can be in anything, it needn’t be an education degree. The law simply states “a national teacher exam” and does not specify which one the parent may use. We are currently suggesting the use of the PreProfessional Skills Test (Praxis I), currently being used in the teacher licensure process in ND.  The Department of Public Instruction does not have the authority to determine which test is used.  If you qualify under the monitoring provision you must be monitored for at least two years. Once the monitoring is successfully completed you do not need additional monitoring when you home school additional children (NDCC 15.1-23-06, -07, -08).

Statement of intent filing

You must file an annual statement of intent (soi) with your local school district of residence on each child between the ages of 7 (by September 1) and 16. Once the child reaches the age of 16 a statement of intent need not be filed unless the child is participating in co- or extra-curricular events at the school.

The soi must contain certain information but it does not need to be on a certain form. One is available at  www.ndhsa.org and www.hslda.org.  It must include the child’s name, address, date of birth, grade level, name and address of parent, qualification of parent, public school courses the child intends to take and any extracurricular activities which the child will participate in (NDCC 15.1-23-02). The child’s social security number is NOT required and I do not recommend giving out that information.

The soi must be accompanied by the child’s proof of identity (NDCC 54-23.2-04.2).  Proof of identity is generally a certified copy of the child’s birth certificate, but the statute states it can be anything the local superintendent deems proof of identity. Also, you must attach the child’s immunization record, if you immunize, or a copy of your opt-out declaration. I recommend filing the soi by certified mail as proof that it was mailed and received. Once the proof of identity and immunization records are on file common sense would dictate that you do not need to file them every year, unless there is a change. Additionally, if you are qualifying under the baccalaureate or national teacher exam options, be sure to attach a copy of your diploma or the results of the PPST.  If you are a ND state certified teacher attach a copy of your certificate. If you are in a monitored program you may need to provide proof of high school graduation or a copy of your G.E.D.

Testing provisions

The current statutes require that home schooled children be tested in grades 4, 6, 8 and 10. If your school district will provide you with a test it must be a standardized achievement test. If you rent your own from a test supplier it must also be nationally normed. It must be administered by a ND state certified teacher and given in the child’s learning environment or at the local public school at the parent’s discretion. If the school provides the test, they pay for it. If you provide it through a testing company, you pay for it. The test must be administered in its norming period and once you receive the test scores you must file a copy with your school district of residence.

If your child tests below the 30th percentile on the basic composite score additional factors come in to play. The child must then be tested for a disability. The subsequent requirements are based on those findings  (NDCC 15.1-23-11,-12,13).

Regarding developmental disabilities

The law spells out the requirements for homeschooling developmentally disabled children. Three times a year you must file progress reports with your school district that have been prepared by the services plan team. This team consists of members from the school district of residence and the child’s parent or the parent may opt for and recompense a team of their choosing. For information  see NDCC 15.1-23-14, -15.

Extracurricular activities

North Dakota law allows home schoolers to participate in both curricular and extracurricular activities at the local school or at an approved nonpublic school. The child must meet the same standards for participation as public school students. Once you have chosen the school and have provided notification through your statement of intent, the child is subject to the same transfer rules as provided by the North Dakota High School Activities Association.

Your child may also take any academic courses provided by your school district or at a private school. You must list the courses to be taken at the public school on your statement of intent. You do not need to list the academic courses being taken at a private school.

Diplomas

Your local school district, an approved nonpublic high school or the ND Division of Independent Study may issue a high school diploma, however, most school districts will require that your child becomes a fulltime public school student for a certain period of time, generally their senior year. An approved nonpublic high school can set any requirements they wish in order to grant your child a diploma. The Division of Independent Study route can be very expensive.  The majority of home schooling parents in North Dakota issue the diploma themselves, after all, they did the teaching. To my knowledge, the parent-issued diploma carries the same weight as one issued by a government entity.

If you have questions regarding the law go to www.ndhsa.org for clarification or to print a copy of the statutes and the statement of intent. Comments can be sent to the author at billbiby@msn.com