Operating a small (tiny) private school from a personal home

[Hope44]

Has this ever been done and are there state laws regarding this?  I'm assuming if a school is not attempting state accreditation and there are no HOA laws against it, would that be possible?  Say a school for less than fifteen students and with three teachers? 

 

I'd like to know if this is being done in any states.

[Catwoman]

You would need to check both state and local regulations, as they can vary a lot from one place to another. Even if it's OK with your HOA, it may still be illegal in your town or county to operate that kind of establishment in your home, and you may need permits and licenses of some sort, even if it's legal.

 

If you want to tell us what state you live in, we might be able to help a bit. :)

 

Is there a specific reason for calling this a private school, and not to simply operate as a few moms getting together to homeschool their children? Will you be trying to make money off the venture?

[1bassoon]

Yeah, I'd watch . . . . we got into some hot water b/c I was holding science classes in our garage. It got ugly at one point (ugh, don't ask, horrible memory!) and as part of the process, the fire marshall said we didn't have enough exits. Or something. It was a GARAGE, people! There are HUGE DOORS in a garage!

Sigh. OK, nevermind ;)

 

What Catwoman said. Check with your local authorities, there may be zoning, etc laws. I didn't know we had some, and boy did we ever!

[Ellie]

Has this ever been done and are there state laws regarding this?  I'm assuming if a school is not attempting state accreditation and there are no HOA laws against it, would that be possible?  Say a school for less than fifteen students and with three teachers? 

 

I'd like to know if this is being done in any states.

 

Yes, it could be done, but you would certainly need to check into state and local regulations. 

[Arcadia]

My neighbor operates licensed daycare employing two persons (W2, health benefits) at her condo. There are more than eight kids of preschool age. I don't know what the regulations are but its not against HOA and she does have a daycare license.

[Elisabet1]

It is legal in Texas.

[73349]

:iagree:  that's going to vary by location. Around here, it would even depend on the ages of the kids (I think kids under 8 can only be on the ground floor).

 

I do want to mention the book Marva Collins' Way, in case you haven't read it. She ran one in some rented space for a while and also in a school room in her home. (It was in the '70s in Chicago, so not necessarily going to address the code issues, but still inspirational.)

[redsquirrel]

I know my state has specific educational law about it. If kids are being dropped off for the purposes of education then rules about child care licensing come into play. Our local co-op gets around that because parents don't drop kids off. In fact they are not supposed to drop them off at all. If the teacher is expected to take responsibility for the kids then all those regs come into play.

[Erica in OR]

I'm guessing homeowners insurance would also need to be looked into. We got our homeowners renewal policy today and an insert with it mentioned other types of coverage sometimes needed—one of them was if the home is used as a location for a home childcare. If I had schoolchildren other than my own in my home on a regular basis, I'd definitely want some sort of coverage for that.

 

Erica in OR

[Guest]

It totally and completely depends on your state law.  In WA we can.  My son attended such a school.  

 

If you do it, though, make it easy on your participating crew and 

1) give grades and 

2) do it on a quarterly / semester basis.  

 

Match the system in your area.  Don't be cute with either of those things.  It's annoying.  Especially for upper grades.  

 

You don't know where the kids will end up and if you have a flaky appearance, you cause trouble for your kids if they enter the public system or another private school.  Ask me how I know.  Or don't.  Really.  I'm done griping about it.  :0)

 

 

[Jean in Newcastle]

You will have to check zoning laws.  And fire laws.  And actual laws about what constitutes a private school and what they have to teach.  And who can teach it.  (Though in our state the teacher's do not have to have teaching certificate if they are teaching privately, I'm not sure if that is so in every state).  Also check into employment and tax regulations if you are paying the teachers.  And non-profit status (or so I would assume).  In other words, do your homework.  

[Cinder]

Ds1 attended preschool/K4 at a private in-home program. The teacher had 8 students at the time but was allowed up to 10. I don't know details on how it worked but I remember she had to have some kind of outside approval.

[Hope44]

Two of the teachers are not taking a salary, but the third (who is an assistant will be paid an hourly wage). It will be a nonprofit.  The state is Virginia and as far as I can tell, there are no laws against this, but I'm not certain of that either.  It sounds like a good idea and the home is actually large and on a few acres and pretty private.  If it works, it's a pretty good setup.  

 

Just haven't seen anyone do this at all in our area before.  

[Alessandra]

You will have to check zoning laws. And fire laws. And actual laws about what constitutes a private school and what they have to teach. And who can teach it. (Though in our state the teacher's do not have to have teaching certificate if they are teaching privately, I'm not sure if that is so in every state). Also check into employment and tax regulations if you are paying the teachers. And non-profit status (or so I would assume). In other words, do your homework.

This. And you might want your paid teachers to be private contractors, rather than employees. Think about making sure someone is CPR/AED certified.

 

You would probably want to develop a parent handbook. Can kids attend if they have a fever? What about early or late drop off, pick up? Absences? Tuition refund policies? Some of the answers may be in local regs.

[BrookValley.]

What everyone else said--I'm sure it's possible depending on location, state and local laws, regulations, etc.

 

I attended such a school for preschool and kindergarten. It was in someone's basement, and I think there were 10-12 students? One teacher and maybe two aides/co-teachers that switched off, something like that.

 

That was, uh, quite a long time ago, though. :tongue_smilie:

[Harriet Vane]

One other concern:

 

A friend of mine tried to open a cottage school in her home. She advertised the school as academically rigorous. The only people who ever responded were those with children who were failing behaviorally or in some other way in public schools. The only people willing to hire her were people who desperately wanted someone to fix the mess their child was in.

 

My friend's experience might have been an anomaly, but this is one factor to think through.

[Laurie4b]

I have a friend who does this. In our state, you are subject to the same laws as other private schools, which includes inspection by the fire marshall, etc. It's not "Aw c'mon! This is a house!" If you have 15 kids & 3 adults in it every day, it has to be safe for those people. You have to find out your own state's laws on private schools (pertaining to the education part and what is required) and also state and local regs on the physical property and whether it's suitable. Be prepared to have to install extra bathrooms, a water fountain,etc. It will depend on your state.

[Joanne]

Yes, I did that on a small scale. For 5 or so years, I schooled mine and others in a one-room (ish) school house. My current boss did the same, and eventually, we merged talents and schools. She brought the foundation and most of the students, but we now have an established, full time, traditional school of 96 students.

 

But, back to my cottage days, I was a single mom and homeschooling. Circumstances emerged that I needed to be creative. I opened my home/homeschool to additional students. At my biggest, I had my 3 and 4 additional. Probably 12 additional students cycled through my program for various reasons and lengths of time.

 

I'm in Texas, where such a "thing" is legal. I had previously had a licensed daycare, and felt "comfortable" in terms of safety regulations as my home had already been vetted by the state, albeit a different (but kid centered) program.

[JumpyTheFrog]

And you might want your paid teachers to be private contractors, rather than employees.

I don't see how a teacher could be a contractor legally. If you tell them when to work, supply their equipment, and tell them what to do, they are employees. The newspapers near me have had many articles recently about the huge numbers of construction companies cheating their taxes by calling their employees contractors when they aren't.

[Alessandra]

I don't see how a teacher could be a contractor legally. If you tell them when to work, supply their equipment, and tell them what to do, they are employees. The newspapers near me have had many articles recently about the huge numbers of construction companies cheating their taxes by calling their employees contractors when they aren't.

Actually, I am familiar with many adult education programs in which teachers are contractors and have been for years without tax challenges. Ime, it has applied to teachers in museums, community centers, etc, but not to adjunct faculty in colleges where the is a teachers union. I have done teaching both as a contractor and as an employee. Presumably, op would get legal and tax advice for her particular situation.

[Susan in TN]

In TN, homeschoolers who register with an "umbrella school" are technically considered "satelite branches" of a private school. So technically I am running a very small private school - I report to the umbrella school our classes/subjects, teaching materials, and number of days of school each semester.

 

I suppose if I had a couple more adults and a few more kids using the space in my home and learning together, there wouldn't be any additional requirements except that each family would be responsible for registering with the umbrella school and doing the actual semester reporting (or whatever is required by that particular unbrella). I don't believe I would call it a "private school", though - a tutorial (if there is a tuition fee) or co-op (if parents all contributed by teaching or offering some other form of compensation).

 

There are many, many co-ops and tutorials that operate here - often using space in churches - and I don't believe they are under any regulation from the state. They decide what classes to offer, tuition costs, overall structure, and in general make their own policies. Grades (if given) are reported to parents, who then report to their umbrella school.

[Farrar]

In a lot of states you don't need to be accredited but you do need to be licensed to operate as a school and, in order to be licensed to operate as a school, you have to follow a bunch of fire code and accessibility and employment type laws, including having teachers and adults fingerprinted and background checked. If you were in a church or such, it would be less of a big deal, but in a house it might be.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Two of the teachers are not taking a salary, but the third (who is an assistant will be paid an hourly wage). It will be a nonprofit.  The state is Virginia and as far as I can tell, there are no laws against this, but I'm not certain of that either.  It sounds like a good idea and the home is actually large and on a few acres and pretty private.  If it works, it's a pretty good setup.  

 

Just haven't seen anyone do this at all in our area before.  

http://www.edchoice.org/Documents/SchoolChoice/Private-Schools-Laws-and-Regulations/virginia.pdf

 

But you can't rely on just asking us.  There may be a good reason no one is doing it.  Or it may be that they are missing out on a good opportunity.  And as we've mentioned, you have to look up laws not only on schooling but on fire code, health code, employment, taxes and maybe some things I'm not even thinking of.  

[Hope44]

I'm asking because I've had a friend who is considering doing this looking at all of the options.  I'm pretty sure the cons about what types of parents and students would be attracted to this she has already considered.  The pdf link above I'm going to send to her.  Looks like there may be lots of hoops.  Too bad she doesn't live in Texas!  She doesn't frequent message boards, but I thought someone out there surely must know something!  

[JumpyTheFrog]

Actually, I am familiar with many adult education programs in which teachers are contractors and have been for years without tax challenges. Ime, it has applied to teachers in museums, community centers, etc, but not to adjunct faculty in colleges where the is a teachers union. I have done teaching both as a contractor and as an employee. Presumably, op would get legal and tax advice for her particular situation.

 

Well, I don't know how adult education programs are run, so I can't comment on that, but a teacher at a private school would be an employee.

 

Here are the IRS guidelines.

 

 

 

Common Law Rules

Facts that provide evidence of the degree of control and independence fall into three categories:

1. Behavioral: Does the company control or have the right to control what the worker does and how the worker does his or her job?
2. Financial: Are the business aspects of the worker’s job controlled by the payer? (these include things like how worker is paid, whether expenses are reimbursed, who provides tools/supplies, etc.)
3. Type of Relationship: Are there written contracts or employee type benefits (i.e. pension plan, insurance, vacation pay, etc.)? Will the relationship continue and is the work performed a key aspect of the business?

Businesses must weigh all these factors when determining whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor. Some factors may indicate that the worker is an employee, while other factors indicate that the worker is an independent contractor. There is no “magic†or set number of factors that “makes†the worker an employee or an independent contractor, and no one factor stands alone in making this determination. Also, factors which are relevant in one situation may not be relevant in another.

The keys are to look at the entire relationship, consider the degree or extent of the right to direct and control, and finally, to document each of the factors used in coming up with the determination.

 

 

 

Types of Instructions Given

An employee is generally subject to the business’s instructions about when, where, and how to work. All of the following are examples of types of instructions about how to do work.

• When and where to do the work.
• What tools or equipment to use.
• What workers to hire or to assist with the work.
• Where to purchase supplies and services.
• What work must be performed by a specified individual.
• What order or sequence to follow when performing the work.

 

 

Financial control refers to facts that show whether or not the business has the right to control the economic aspects of the worker’s job.

The financial control factors fall into the categories of:

• Significant investment
• Unreimbursed expenses
• Opportunity for profit or loss
• Services available to the market
• Method of payment

 

 

 

Type of Relationship

Type of relationship refers to facts that show how the worker and business perceive their relationship to each other.

The factors, for the type of relationship between two parties, generally fall into the categories of:

• Written contracts
• Employee benefits
• Permanency of the relationship
• Services provided as key activity of the business

 

A teacher at a private school would be told when and where to work, would have the supplies provided, would often have some sort of benefits, and would be told how to do their work. This all indicates an employee, not a contractor. Now a private tutor with control over when and where they work, who they tutor, what they teach, etc, could easily be a contractor.

[JumpyTheFrog]

BTW, I'm not an accountant, just someone who reads on the IRS website. I know someone who runs a software business who claims his employees are contractors when they really are much more employees. DH worked for him in the past and in our opinion, he is a tax cheat who would have a hard time defending his business practices if he were audited.

[Arcadia]

Two of the teachers are not taking a salary, but the third (who is an assistant will be paid an hourly wage). It will be a nonprofit.

My kids attend a nonprofit German school. There are laws that the nonprofit has to abide by to exist as a nonprofit for tax purposes. The school gives away the excess at the end of the year as scholarships. Your friend would have to check how to qualify as a non-profit.

[G5052]

It sounds like a good idea, but yes, the local laws and neighborhood tolerance level will apply.

 

I have a friend in another area did paid classes once a week in her home.  Just once a week, teens in the morning and youngers in the afternoon.  A neighbor turned her in for operating an unlicensed day care center, and then the county got involved with various other charges.  It was a huge mess.  None of the charges seemed at all reasonable given what she was doing.  In court they finally worked out that she would stop doing that out of her home for good.  And yes, a friend of theirs served as their lawyer at no charge.  It was really crazy.  And no homeowner association, although the houses are close enough that people saw kids going in and out.  She kept going by teaching out of a friend's house who had no neighbors at all close by, and now at a church.  Next year she may use the classrooms of a local tutoring service that doesn't open until 3pm.

 

In contrast, several people in my area have started schools in their basements that grew into accredited schools.  And no involvement of the county until they bought land and a building.  The neighbors didn't care either.