Important News About New Home School Regulations

Recently the Arkansas Department of Education changed the process home schooled students follow when applying for a driver’s license, despite the fact state laws governing the process have not changed.

Arkansas Code Section 27-16-701(d)(2) says home schoolers under the age of eighteen must present “a notarized copy of the written notice of intent to home school” when applying for a driver’s license; this law has been on the books for quite some time, and it has not changed or been amended.  However, the Arkansas Department of Education removed the notary section from the 2016-2017 Notice of Intent to Home School, making it difficult for home schoolers to comply with this portion of the law.

The department also says home schoolers must now provide a signed copy of the Notice of Intent when they apply for a driver’s license rather than a notarized copy, despite state law to the contrary; the State Board of Education has proposed rules and regulations to this effect for home schoolers as well, again, despite state law saying the Notice of Intent must be notarized rather than merely signed.

These new rules from the Department of Education and the State Board of Education create a dilemma for home schoolers, because they contradict state laws passed by the Arkansas Legislature. These new rules from the Department of Education contain requirements not found in state law and essentially ask home schoolers to violate the law when applying for a driver’s license.

Altogether, we feel these department rules are not consistent with Arkansas’ Home School Law or Arkansas’ laws governing driver’s licenses, and we are working to correct the situation.

The Arkansas Department of Education will hold a hearing Friday, July 29, 2016, at 1:30 P.M. in downtown Little Rock at the Department of Education’s auditorium to discuss these new rules and regulations for home schoolers.  This hearing is open to the public, and participants will be allowed to voice their opinions or submit written opinions to the Arkansas Department of Education.

We are already providing written comments to the department and have been in communication with the commissioner of the Department of Education, Johnny Key.  Hopefully, we will have solved this problem before the hearing occurs, but anyone who wants to attend the hearing to voice their concerns may do so.

You can read the proposed rules and regulations here (the portions related to driver’s license applications are on the final page). You can submit written comments ahead of the hearing to Jennifer Davis at ADE.RulesComments@arkansas.gov.

We have been working with the Arkansas Department of Education to correct this situation, and we plan to continue to work with them and other state agencies as necessary to ensure state rules and regulations are consistent with our state’s home school laws so that home schoolers are not placed in the difficult position of choosing between obeying the law and obeying a state regulation. Unlike many home school groups in other states, we have enjoyed an excellent relationship with the Home School Office at the state Department of Education for a number of years. We trust the Department of Education will work with us and all home schoolers to resolve this situation quickly.

Home Schoolers: Here is an Opportunity to Amend S.B. 810

IMG_6796Yesterday Governor Asa Hutchinson announced a special session of the Arkansas Legislature will convene in two weeks.

The scope of the special session will be very narrow; however, this session is an opportunity for the legislature to address some of the concerns home schoolers have raised about the recently-passed S.B. 810, which deals with educational neglect reports made to the Child Maltreatment Hotline.

While we believe this law poses relatively little threat to home schoolers, many families have expressed concerns about S.B. 810, and we are committed to seeing those concerns addressed.

Governor Hutchinson has promised to work with DHS and the Child Maltreatment Hotline to ensure S.B. 810 does not adversely affect home schoolers. However, the Arkansas Legislature has an opportunity to address those concerns more permanently at the special session later this month, if Governor Hutchinson includes S.B. 810 on the agenda for the session.

If you would like to ask Governor Hutchinson to include S.B. 810 on the agenda for the special session, you can call his office in Little Rock at (501) 682-2345.

If you have any questions, feel free to call our office at (501) 375-7000.

Addressing Concerns About SB 810

Several of our home school friends around the state have contacted us this week about SB 810 which directs the Child Maltreatment Hotline to resume accepting calls regarding educational neglect.

Many of our friends are understandably concerned this bill might inadvertently open home schoolers to harassment from public school officials or state employees.

Here is a fundamental question I believe we have to ask about SB 810:

Would a veto of SB 810 by Governor Hutchinson reduce the possibility that an innocent home school family would be reported to DHS?

Here is the answer: No. An adversary of home schooling already has several ways to report a home school family to DHS or the police. They don’t need SB 810 in order to harass home schoolers.

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