Homeschooling along with ps

[Granny_Weatherwax]

The other thread about hsers taking ps classes has me thinking about what I would like to do with DS next year.

 

How do I go about finding what the state law/precedent is for allowing hsers to take ps classes? Does it depend on the district?

 

I live in Illinois if anyone has experience with doing both hsing and ps classes simultaneously.

[Tullia]

I would suggest that you contact a home school support group that monitors the legal environment in your state. That said, many of the support groups best informed on legal issues sometimes don't encourage hs'ers to take ps courses. State laws vary quite a bit. Some state laws don't address the issue at all, and even in those states which do, services are often dependent on how a particular district interprets the law. In NM, local districts have quite a bit of latitude, but hs/ps partnerships vary from year to year depending on how much money/space is available.

 

If your district already offers the option it might be a good experience. But, even if the district is open to the idea but hasn't actually tried it you could be in for a lot of bureaucratic wrangling as the idea works its way from the local district through the state education department which, btw, has to juggle federal state and local requirements. In my experience you will need to look at several issues all of which have to fall in place to make it work smoothly:

 

1. Your state's law.

2. How the state's education department interprets that law.

3. How the local district interprets both the law and the ed. dept. regulations which may or may not be entirely consistent with the law.

4. The attitude of the principal and/or other teachers and administrators at the school itself.

 

From the research I've done, I believe that state laws are usually fairly stable because it takes a lot of time and resources to change them, but interpretations at all levels are subject to change at a moment's notice. New administrators often mean new interpretations and believe me, that can come out of the blue in the middle of a school term! Also, if athletics are involved you may have to deal with a separate state athletic governing body rules. There might also be issues with separate agencies if you're considering drama club or some other class that participates in inter-school competitions.

 

I'm not trying to discourage you, but am trying to list things you might have to consider. The more agencies involved, the greater the chance of contradictory interpretations. When all was said and done, we decided that CC was a better choice because the process was much simpler. YMMV:D.

 

HTH,

Martha