Jump to content

Menu

Homeschool Questions in Ohio (HS)


Recommended Posts

My niece lives in Ohio with her father, and has been being homeschooled for the past year. When the decision was made, we found a homeschooling center that could provides most of her education, and her father enrolled her. He contacted the district by phone to let them know that she would not be returning and would be homeschooled, but never sent a written NOI, and thus, never received a letter recognizing her as a homeschooler. 

Now, I've stepped in to help make sure she is prepared for life after the high school years. I live out of the state, and for most of the year, out of the country, but am afraid that her father has dropped the ball and am trying to fill in the missing pieces. She has already been home-educated for 1 year, and has taken classes in all of the required areas. We are working to make sure she has what she needs for a homeschool diploma, and I have a few questions:

1. Since her father did not notify the district last year, what can we expect when we notify the district now? Is there any chance they will not approve her as a homeschooler, or back-charge him with truancy?
2. I have already prepared a NOI for this year, along with the curriculum addendum. Should I make one for last year, and send it along as well, or only for this year?
3. I have narrative report cards for her work at the homeschool center. I understand that she is supposed to submit a narrative evaluation (in lieu of testing) to the superintendent each year. I have also seen some very simply narrative evaluation forms on the PEACH website, which need to be signed by a certified teacher in Ohio. Can I use the narrative report cards by themselves, or the form from PEACH by itself? Do I send them together, or with any other documentation? Should I send the evaluation information with the NOI, or separately? 
4. If I need to use a form completed by a licensed teacher, does anyone know of anyone in Clermont or Hamilton County that provides that service? 

Thank you in advance for all of your help!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/3/2019 at 3:55 PM, tymo said:

My niece lives in Ohio with her father, and has been being homeschooled for the past year. When the decision was made, we found a homeschooling center that could provides most of her education, and her father enrolled her. He contacted the district by phone to let them know that she would not be returning and would be homeschooled, but never sent a written NOI, and thus, never received a letter recognizing her as a homeschooler. 

Now, I've stepped in to help make sure she is prepared for life after the high school years. I live out of the state, and for most of the year, out of the country, but am afraid that her father has dropped the ball and am trying to fill in the missing pieces. She has already been home-educated for 1 year, and has taken classes in all of the required areas. We are working to make sure she has what she needs for a homeschool diploma, and I have a few questions:

1. Since her father did not notify the district last year, what can we expect when we notify the district now? Is there any chance they will not approve her as a homeschooler, or back-charge him with truancy?
2. I have already prepared a NOI for this year, along with the curriculum addendum. Should I make one for last year, and send it along as well, or only for this year?
3. I have narrative report cards for her work at the homeschool center. I understand that she is supposed to submit a narrative evaluation (in lieu of testing) to the superintendent each year. I have also seen some very simply narrative evaluation forms on the PEACH website, which need to be signed by a certified teacher in Ohio. Can I use the narrative report cards by themselves, or the form from PEACH by itself? Do I send them together, or with any other documentation? Should I send the evaluation information with the NOI, or separately? 
4. If I need to use a form completed by a licensed teacher, does anyone know of anyone in Clermont or Hamilton County that provides that service? 

Thank you in advance for all of your help!

Hi. this particular subforum doesn't get a lot of attention. If I were you, I would repost this in the General Education forum.

In Ohio, if someone else is completing the education of your child for you, they need to be named on the NOI. I am not clear on what a "homeschooling center" is--is this affiliated with a public school at all? If he had to "enroll her" that doesn't sound like home education to me. Could it have been public education at home, in which case, they did the required paperwork?  Do you know the name of the program?

The portfolio review by a certified teacher has a required format. You could not use the report cards. Again, though, this does not sound like home education to me. It sounds like a charter, program through a private school and/or public school at home. Those would not be subject to the same notification requirements. I would clarify what program she was involved with and assess that piece before you worry about if she needed the NOI. 

If you go on the Ohio Homeschool Parents website, I believe there is a list of assessors. Her father (or you, or some other adult) would need to bring in examples of her work throughout the year, including some of her texts.  There are example notification forms and assessor forms on that site as well.

IF you need to do an NOI for next year, you could also do testing. There are many tests that can be administered at home (CAT or Stanford online, for example).   

I would repost this on the Gen Ed forum and see what others say.

@PeterPan  Do you agree?

Edited by cintinative
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On July 3, 2019 at 3:55 PM, tymo said:

My niece lives in Ohio with her father, and has been being homeschooled for the past year. When the decision was made, we found a homeschooling center that could provides most of her education, and her father enrolled her. He contacted the district by phone to let them know that she would not be returning and would be homeschooled, but never sent a written NOI, and thus, never received a letter recognizing her as a homeschooler. 

Now, I've stepped in to help make sure she is prepared for life after the high school years. I live out of the state, and for most of the year, out of the country, but am afraid that her father has dropped the ball and am trying to fill in the missing pieces. She has already been home-educated for 1 year, and has taken classes in all of the required areas. We are working to make sure she has what she needs for a homeschool diploma, and I have a few questions:

1. Since her father did not notify the district last year, what can we expect when we notify the district now? Is there any chance they will not approve her as a homeschooler, or back-charge him with truancy?
2. I have already prepared a NOI for this year, along with the curriculum addendum. Should I make one for last year, and send it along as well, or only for this year?
3. I have narrative report cards for her work at the homeschool center. I understand that she is supposed to submit a narrative evaluation (in lieu of testing) to the superintendent each year. I have also seen some very simply narrative evaluation forms on the PEACH website, which need to be signed by a certified teacher in Ohio. Can I use the narrative report cards by themselves, or the form from PEACH by itself? Do I send them together, or with any other documentation? Should I send the evaluation information with the NOI, or separately? 
4. If I need to use a form completed by a licensed teacher, does anyone know of anyone in Clermont or Hamilton County that provides that service? 

Thank you in advance for all of your help!

1. First, he failed to comply with the law and I don't know the safest way to clean that up. I personally would not take on yourself legal responsibility for that, if he's the legal guardian. The laws here are simple and he should be following them. I googled for PEACH and they have all the info, with detailed overkill steps, on their website, so it's concerning that this father didn't comply with the law. I think at this point he would be wise to contact CHEO, the state homeschool org, and ask them for counsel. Or join HSLDA and ask them what to do. I haven't been in that position and I don't know anyone who doesn't notify. I'm just saying it was the LAW and it would be good to make sure you've done what you can/should legally to make that right. And I don't know what that is, which is why I'm saying talk with CHEO or HSLDA. You surely will not be the first and I would NOT go submitting ANYTHING until you have that sorted out. About the time you send in a form and they ask where in the world she was the last year, you're in a problem. So don't do that until you get some counsel that knows what will be best legally.

https://www.cheohome.org

https://hslda.org/content/ 

Try one or both, but just get some counsel before you make your next move. Hopefully it's a nothing, but I would get counsel. No, I don't *think* they'll charge you with truancy, but I don't know what could happen. I haven't heard stories like that. I'm just saying they do notice inconsistencies, which is what this will be.

2. As far as last year, like I said, get some legal counsel. CHEO has someone who could tell you and HSLDA will. 

3. The narrative that is submitted is from a licensed teacher or other person blah blah. Often they just sign a letter saying the dc is performing at ability level and put their licensure#, boom done. So they review that person does with you might take 40-60 minutes, then they give you the doc and you copy and include with your notification. So those report cards, work samples, etc. are shown to the person you select to do your portfolio review. If she did standardized testing, you can use the top score from that instead. If PEACH has a form, fine. I would not use any forms from the district, because lately they've been trying to add requirements that aren't in the law. If you're using a form from CHEO or another org that you know provides the info required by law, you're good. 

4. You can find the licensed teacher by word of mouth. Someone at PEACH should have a name. You better get hopping, because they're REALLY BUSY right now. It might be faster to do standardized testing at this point. You can go through SETON or CLP or whomever you want. The CAT will be about $25 and won't take too long to administer. You'll get the results in about a week and can submit them with your notification.

*** ODE changed the notification dates so make sure you get it done on time. It's some kind of stupidity like within x amount of when that dc's school in their district of residence would begin, which means the dates could vary depending on high school vs. elementary and by county. Insane. They're cracking down, so watch that.

So to summarize: get legal counsel on the cleanup, do testing if you can't get a portfolio review arranged, and the legal guardian signs on the dotted line for all this. If he can get on a FB group for people homeschooling in his area, he'll get ads from people doing portfolio reviews, etc. That's how he can find them for next year. People will already be booked for this summer, hence the suggestion to do testing and be done with it.

Edited by PeterPan
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would want to verify she's been actually homeschooled vs. going to a charter or to a cover school (enroll in private school that has oversight for your homeschooling; usually part homeschooling and part co-op/private school). there are also online charters, but I don't know if that is what's going on if there is a "center" involved. If she is an IEP student, it's possible that she had a scholarship provider (Jon Peterson or Autism Scholarship) that is overseeing the schooling via private or charter school or via tutors/services. Sometimes the providers are very excited and get people to sign up for service but fail to help the parent understand what they need to do to comply with homeschooling notification laws--in those cases, sometimes the parents are actually homeschooling but thought signing up for a provider is all they had to do; other times, they are actually expecting the provider to do all of it (some providers do), but they still need to notify and don't know that.

On Facebook, you might ask a question of Cincinnati Secular Homeschoolers. They will know a lot about Clermont and Hamilton counties and local assessors.

IF all turns out well, and she does in fact homeschool the rest of high school, KEEP EVERY EXCUSE FROM COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE LETTER! They are basically your diploma.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...