D.C. Adopts Oversight Regulations for Home-Schooling

Portfolio of Work Must Be Available

A parent who wants to home-school a child in the District needs to give written notice 15 days before taking a child out of public school, and have a portfolio of the student's work available for review, according to new rules put in place by the state superintendent of education.

The regulations, which took effect this month, also require that the parent have a high school diploma or its equivalent.

Deborah Gist, the District's state education chief, said that her office had been working on the rules for some time but that the deaths of four girls whose bodies were found in January highlighted the need for greater oversight of children whose parents claim to home-school them.

When Banita Jacks's daughters stopped attending two D.C. charter schools, Jacks told school officials that she planned to teach them herself. When law enforcement officials found the decaying bodies of the sisters inside their Southeast home, the girls hadn't been seen for months. Charter school officials later said that there was no policy in place to track students whose parents remove them for home-schooling.

Gist said the new rules offer the "right balance" between parental rights and government responsibility.

"We look forward to working with home-schooling families in the District of Columbia to ensure that they receive all the supports necessary to successfully educate their students at home," Gist said in a statement.

The rules were approved in a 5 to 1 vote by the D.C. State Board of Education.

The role of D.C. government in home-schooling attracted attention from across the country. The state board had two public meetings and received more than 2,800 e-mails and written comments, as well as 400 phone calls. Approximately 16 written comments came from D.C. residents.

The rules stipulate that the student portfolio should include writing samples, workbooks and other materials.

According to the regulations, state board officials can review each portfolio up to twice a year. If officials determine that students are not receiving "thorough, regular education," the board will notify the parent their instruction is deficient.

The parent then has 30 days to amend the curriculum and present an action plan. If the plan is deemed unacceptable, the state board will issue a letter of noncompliance. Parents have the right to appeal the board's ruling.

Parents who remain in deficiency after a final decision by the state superintendent will be required to enroll the children in a traditional school within 45 days.