How to home-school in Virginia (including with a religious exemption).

[audio mp3="https://jamesburnett.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/james-burnett-home-school-virginia.mp3"][/audio] There are two main ways to home school your children in Virginia. The first is by going down the typical home schooling path which consists of meeting certain criteria outlined in Virginia law as well as providing annual notices to your local school district of you intent to home school and submitting annual grades to your local school district. Secondly, you could file for a religious exemption which excuses your child from school all-together. This would give you the ultimate freedom to do what you need to do and would cut the government entirely out of the education process for your children. Lets talk about the typical path. 1. The typical Home Schooling path In Virginia you do not need permission from the local school board or local school superintendent to home-school your children. All you need to do is provide a notice to the school saying that per Virginia code, you are providing home instruction to your kids. While you do not need to get permission, you will still need to meet certain criteria in order to home school in Virginia. There are four main criteria and you only need to meet one of them. 1. Have a High School diploma. 2. Have a teacher qualification 3. Show that you are providing a program of study, or curriculum. 4. Show evidence that you are capable of providing home instruction. What if you don't have a high school diploma? If you do not have a high school diploma you can still qualify by meeting criteria #3. This means you will be providing a program of study or curriculum to your child that will be delivered through some sort of correspondence program, or "by any other manner", which means you can deliver the program yourself. Step by Step 1. Send a letter to your local super intendent and give them notice that you are going to home school your children. Give the names of your children and your address. Let them know you meet one of the four criteria above and outline which one and show proof (copy of diploma OR curriculum name). This must be done by August 15th. 2. Have your child evaluated towards the end of the year. Give the evaluation to the superintendent. (see below for a test you can order online) This must be given by to the local school district by August 1st. 3. Repeat for each school year. Here is what the actual Virginia law says. § 22.1-254.1. Declaration of policy; requirements for home instruction of children. A. When the requirements of this section have been satisfied, instruction of children by their parents is an acceptable alternative form of education under the policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Any parent of any child who will have reached the fifth birthday on or before September 30 of any school year and who has not passed the eighteenth birthday may elect to provide home instruction in lieu of school attendance if he (i) holds a high school diploma; (ii) is a teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board; (iii) provides the child with a program of study or curriculum, which may be delivered through a correspondence course or distance learning program or in any other manner; or (iv) provides evidence that he is able to provide an adequate education for the child. B. Any parent who elects to provide home instruction in lieu of school attendance shall annually notify the division superintendent in August of his intention to so instruct the child and provide a description of the curriculum, limited to a list of subjects to be studied during the coming year, and evidence of having met one of the criteria for providing home instruction as required by subsection A. Parents electing to provide home instruction shall provide such annual notice no later than August 15. Any parent who moves into a school division or begins home instruction after the school year has begun shall notify the division superintendent of his intention to provide home instruction as soon as practicable and shall thereafter comply with the requirements of this section within 30 days of such notice. The division superintendent shall notify the Superintendent of the number of students in the school division receiving home instruction. C. The parent who elects to provide home instruction shall provide the division superintendent by August 1 following the school year in which the child has received home instruction with either (i) evidence that the child has attained a composite score in or above the fourth stanine on any nationally normed standardized achievement test, or an equivalent score on the ACT, SAT, or PSAT test or (ii) an evaluation or assessment that the division superintendent determines to indicate that the child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth and progress, including (a) an evaluation letter from a person licensed to teach in any state, or a person with a master's degree or higher in an academic discipline, having knowledge of the child's academic progress, stating that the child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth and progress or (b) a report card or transcript from an institution of higher education, college distance learning program, or home-education correspondence school. 2. File a religious exemption for school attendance In Virginia you can skip the entire Virginia home-school law and file for a religious exemption. Filing for a religious exemption for school in Virginia essentially cuts all ties with the state and local government as it pertains to the education of your children. This is the route we took as it provided the most freedom. To obtain a religious exemption you must write a letter explaining that sending your kids to school will cause them to sin and will inhibit their ability to stay close to God. You must explain that you are conscientiously opposed to sending your children to school due to specific religious reasons, such as sin. This letter should be sent to all members of your school district's school board as well as the superintendent. Click here for an example religious exemption letter that I wrote. [1] The local school distinct (Augusta County) voted unanimously to give us our exemption so it should work in your school district as well. Here is what the law says. § 22.1-254. Compulsory attendance required; excuses and waivers; alternative education program attendance; exemptions from article. B. A school board shall excuse from attendance at school: 1. Any pupil who, together with his parents, by reason of bona fide religious training or belief is conscientiously opposed to attendance at school. For purposes of this subdivision, "bona fide religious training or belief" does not include essentially political, sociological or philosophical views or a merely personal moral code;... 2020 Virginia Supreme Court Ruling Franklin County Virginia tried to require some parents to hand over birth certificates which is not required as local school boards have no authority to create new laws around home schooling. In 2020 the Virginia Supreme Court ruled in an important home school case, Sosebee v. Franklin County School Board, that “the power to amend statutes is the power to make law; that power rests squarely and solely on the General Assembly, not school boards.” The Sosebee's attorney added that "Virginia law “does not authorize superintendents to ‘approve’ notices—merely to receive them". More Home School Sources Virginia CODE Links https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title22.1/chapter6/section22.1-78/ [2] https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title22.1/chapter7/section22.1-254.1/ [3] https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title22.1/chapter14/section22.1-254/ [4] Sosebee v. Franklin County School Board case https://law.justia.com/cases/virginia/supreme-court/2020/190620.html [5] IOWA Assessment Testing https://www.bjupress.com/category/iowa-tests-conventional-schools [6] An example religious exemption letter to excuse your children from public schools https://jamesburnett.net/file-for-religious-exemption-to-excuse-your-children-from-school/ [7] [1] https://jamesburnett.net/2022/file-for-religious-exemption-to-excuse-your-children-from-school/ [2] https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title22.1/chapter6/section22.1-78/ [3] https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title22.1/chapter7/section22.1-254.1/ [4] https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title22.1/chapter14/section22.1-254/ [5] https://law.justia.com/cases/virginia/supreme-court/2020/190620.html [6] https://www.bjupress.com/category/iowa-tests-conventional-schools [7] https://jamesburnett.net/file-for-religious-exemption-to-excuse-your-children-from-school/