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The truant officer just came by ...


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Someone in our neighborhood reported my kids truant! We have lived here for 8 years. Everyone knows we homeschool ... or so I thought. I think someone is just jealous that my kids are outside riding their bikes on a beautiful spring day.

 

The truant officer was polite and left as soon as I showed her our excusal letters. You'd think that, rather than wasting the resources to send someone to our home, they'd at least check to see whether we were registered as homeschoolers ...

 

Tara

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Guest Cindie2dds
Well I hope they continue riding their bikes and enjoying the weather! Why not pack a picnic and read a few books while you lounge in the great outdoors? I'm all for flaunting a right! ;)

 

:iagree: Enjoy your day!

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Someone in our neighborhood reported my kids truant! We have lived here for 8 years. Everyone knows we homeschool ... or so I thought. I think someone is just jealous that my kids are outside riding their bikes on a beautiful spring day.

Oh, but don't you know that the only way children can learn is to sit at their desks every day from 8 to 3? Silly you.:tongue_smilie:

 

The truant officer was polite and left as soon as I showed her our excusal letters. You'd think that, rather than wasting the resources to send someone to our home, they'd at least check to see whether we were registered as homeschoolers ...

More silliness. You're expecting those people to be logical. They didn't do logic when they were sitting at their desks every day from 8 to 3. They were coloring and doing group projects and learning how to...I dunno what they were learning...:tongue_smilie:

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I had a visit from the truant officer this June. It went okay, until he told me that I had to go down to the local highschool and get permission to let my child attend a private school (umbrella school) - which is in no way the law here in Ca.

 

we are in one of the worst school districts in So. Ca (but not LA) and have a lot of drop-outs, I figure they are busy trying to get drop outs back. It was clear we were not.

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You didn't say if the officer said it was specifically a neighbor, but I've heard of cases where a patrol officer or other public employee contacted the truancy office because he/she repeatedly saw the same children out duing the day. And they may or may not have access to county homeschooling records.

 

I definitely have neighbors who think we're odd and don't agree with homeschooling, but they just stay away.

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What are excusal letters, please? I've never heard of that....

 

We have to notify the school district of our intent to homeschool. If our form is correctly filled out, we are given a letter that excuses our child/ren from compulsory attendance at school.

 

The truant officer said "someone in the neighborhood" reported us. I live two doors down from a cop (who is considering homeschooling) and across the street from a magistrate (who fully supports homeschooling). It's possible that the crabby neighbor who yelled at me for flying the flag of our daughter's country of birth the weekend we brought her home (which happened to be Memorial Day) did it; he's the neighborhood busybody.

 

Tara

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We read outside on lovely days like this, and I admit I get a little nervous when people drive by very slowly.

 

Honestly, I'd love for someone to come in and ask what we do and have me show our work, but for me it's the same feeling I get when I go by a police officer when I know I'm not speeding.

 

But, for me, we school late (after my chores, paperwork and workout), so I always figure someone would pop by at 10:00 when I'm exercising, and that wouldn't look good. ugh

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But, for me, we school late (after my chores, paperwork and workout), so I always figure someone would pop by at 10:00 when I'm exercising, and that wouldn't look good. ugh

 

Our laws don't require kids to be in school for any certain amount of time each day or for a certain number of days; I just have to promise to provide 900 hours of instruction.

 

Tara

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It is absurd that the truant officer came to your home, anyway. Every school knows which children are present and which are absent. Middle and high schools take attendance during every class period. Schools know who the truant students are.

 

Instead of having truant officers checking up on reports via anonymous phone calls, if they really want to find the truant students, they should be getting names, addresses, phone numbers and parents' work numbers of the really truant students and going to their homes or calling those parents. Truant officers should be working with the schools and following up that way instead of roaming the streets looking for school-aged looking kids (not exactly your situation, but it happens here in cities with daytime curfews).

 

They can look for students by name. School should be the ones reporting truant students.That way innocent hsers don't get reported or hassled.

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