To Promote, Lobby, Network, and Enhance Home-Education in Vermont
One Message, Many Voices ...
Vermont Home Education Network is an advocacy organization, which maintains a strong homeschool lobby at the state level and acts as a watchdog by monitoring legislation relevant to homeschooling issues.
All homeschoolers have common ground upon which to stand regardless of methods, materials or worldview.
We work to encourage better communication and networking among all homeschoolers in Vermont that we might better preserve homeschooling freedoms for all by promoting a positive view of homeschooling on the state and local level.
We acknowledge that our fundamental right to home educate our children is essential to everyone's future and because we believe there is strength in a diverse network of homeschoolers, therefore, we support the freedom of all individual families to choose home education and to direct such education.
Homeschoolers Day at the State house
Dear homeschooling parents, I am trying to set up a Homeschoolers Day at the State House. Tentatively set for 4/18/2024. Click here to read more and register for this event.
Possible changes to the home study law that is barely 7 months old.
If you want to read more you can go to VHEN’s legislative activity page.
NEW HOME STUDY LAW WILL BE EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2023
The following links will give you the information you need to know to understand the new law. The Agency of Education is the entity that is tasked with creating the process by which families enroll. There are details that we simply will not know until they finish creating the process and notify families. Please feel free in sharing these links to any homeschoolers you know. Once you watch this video you are an ambassador ~ spread the word!
If you are not yet on the VHEN email list, please consider joining at: https://vhen.org/email-list.
Requirements of the new home study law - gives an overview of the new statute.
Recording of the June 17th Zoom meeting explaining the new law.
Read the new law here. Even though the new law will become effective on July 1, 2023, it will not yet be in the State of Vermont’s official statutes. It should be there by summers end.
FAQ - questions asked during Zoom meetings.
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March 1, 2023 - House ed passes new home study legislative language out of committee
The language of this legislation is very similar to language proposed by Sec Dan French of the AOE back in January of 2022. View the current language here. Go to page 4, Home Study Program, Sec. 5 of the bill. This bill does not yet have a bill number, as it is a committee bill. Here is a summation of what it will look like to homeschooler enrolling in home study:
Within 10 days of starting home study, a parent or legal guardian shall send in a notice of intent to enroll in home study. This notice will contain the information found in the current Form A and independent professional evidence regarding whether the child has a documented disability and how it may affect the student’s educational progress (something like Form B).
The notice must also contain the following attestations that the parent(s)/guardian(s) will agree to do the following:
ASSESSMENTS: The parent(s)/guardian(s) agree they will have the child assessed for progress at the end of each school year and there are 5 options to chose from and that they will keep this assessment on file at home. NO SUBMISSION of assessment required.
MINIMUM COURSE OF STUDY: The parent(s)/guardian(s) agree they will provide at least 175 days of instruction in the minimum course of study. This is no problem for homeschoolers as every day is a day of instruction in a homeschooling program. NO SUBMISSION of a minimum course of study required and NO SUBMISSION of attendance required.
SPECIAL NEEDS ADAPTATIONS: The parent(s)/guardian(s) agree they will provide adaptations for students with disabilities. NO SUBMISSION of adaptations required.
SIGNATURES REQUIRED and there are two scenarios: 1) all parent(s)/guardian(s) with legal custody who are legally authorized to make educational decision for the student must sign OR 2) the parent seeking enrollment must attest they are the sole primary educational decision-making authority and sign.
Within 10 days of receipt, the Sec of Education shall send a written acknowledgement of receipt, which will constitute sufficient enrollment verification.
The Sec of Ed must be notified each year that you plan to continue in a home study program for this child or you need to formally withdraw from the program within 10 business days of ending home study.
The religious waiver remains in place.
All of the above must be done to make the notice complete.
Feel free to email me, Retta Dunlap, with any comments you have. There is time to offer suggested changes in Senate Ed. I have already been made aware of a couple of concerns. Some have voiced that the standardized testing option need clarity that the tests can be given per the testing companies rules.
Retta ~~ 802.472.5491 ~~ mountainfoldvt@gmail.com
If you are not already on the email list, you can join here.
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January 17, 2023 MESSAGE FROM THE VERMONT DEPARTMENT LIBRARIES.
The Vermont Department of Libraries are inviting testimony on inclusive library services and thought this could be an opportunity for the home study community to chime in on how library services support their work or what some needs are. The State Librarian Delneo’s message:
The Working Group for the Status of Libraries was created by VT Legislative Act No. 66 (S.115) which was signed into law in June 2021. In previous Working Group meetings, members of the library community have shared public comments on the topic of Programming, Collections, Facilities, Technology, Staffing, and Professional Development. The minutes and full video of all Working Group meetings can be found here: https://libraries.vermont.gov/services/projects/working_group
The Working Group would like to hear from you!
Our January 27th meeting will include opportunities for library staff, friends, trustees, partners, volunteers, and library users throughout the state to share public comment on the topic of inclusive services and access to public programs and services in Vermont’s libraries.
The Working Group wants to know what works and what doesn’t. For that reason, comments on inclusive services and access to public programs that highlights areas for improvement are welcome, as are comments that share strategies and approaches that have proven successful or comments that raises questions important for the Working Group to consider.
Please share written testimony on the topic of inclusive services and access to public programs and services by emailing to lib.contact@vermont.gov by the end of the day Wednesday, January 18th, 2023. Please be sure to include your contact information and full name in the body of your email.
Please note that all written comments provided to theJanuary Working Group become part of the public record. Written comments will be shared with the Working Group members and the public via the Vermont Department of Libraries website. https://libraries.vermont.gov/services/projects/working_group/testimony_record
JANUARY 25, 2022. Read VHEN proposed language.
Retta Dunlap had a call with Sec. French at the AOE, in which she explained the issues homeschoolers had with the language of H.608. Sec. French said to make changes to the bill that that homeschoolers could agree with. Retta made these changes, which are open for comment and could change even further. Please respond to Retta by email at mountainfoldvt@gmail.com with your comments and concerns about the changes. Click here to open the PDF. This bill is set to die on the wall in House Education. If it comes off the wall, the homeschooling community will be informed. This is what the paper work would look like.
There is an initial one-page submission of an enrollment notice (most likely per child).
Every year after, there is a one-page annual notice to the AOE that the child is still enrolled.
Assessments are still required but you keep them on file at home.
This means that a child enrolled in home study, stays enrolled year-round. No more truancy issues The annual notice is simple piece of paper and should be easy to submit.
JANUARY 24, 2022. A Zoom meeting about H.608 was held with Rep Vicki Strong and Retta Dunlap presenters followed by a Q&A. H.608 An act relating to the simplification of the home study program. To watch and listen to that meeting click here.
ASKING FOR AN ENROLLMENT LETTER FROM THE AOE
ACTION to VT Homeschooling parents – VHEN recommends that if you are past 45 days from the AOE receiving your enrollment notice, request, in writing, that you would like a letter that simply confirms your child is now fully and legally enrolled in home study per 166b(b)(2). Do not ask for a letter that says the enrollment notice was complete. You just need documentation that your child is indeed enrolled in home study.
There is only one way the AOE can stop the 45-day automatic enrollment is to call a hearing as it is a passive or enrollment by default. But is is a real enrollment. It is in the statute to prevent the AOE from doing exactly what they are trying to do and that is to ask for more information after enrollment has occurred.
VHEN realizes that families are different and some parents may not want to push back. HOWEVER, those of you who have the strength and determination to push back a bit on AOE’s attempt to rewrite the statute without going to the legislature to do so PLEASE for the sake of homeschooling freedoms in Vermont push back.
supporting information concerning the 45-day enrollment
Alicia M Hanrahan, who oversees the home study unit, has been sending a message to home study that contains some inaccuracies. Although she did correctly state that the home study statute provides enrollment by default on the 45th day, she made other statements that VHEN cannot ignore as they are contrary to statute, legislative intent, and the historical record of 166b. Her entire message is at the end of this email.
Also, in this message, was a comment about “compulsory education” which is factually incorrect. The law requires compulsory ATTENDANCE by children between the ages of 6 and 16. If education was the standard the public schools have to reach … they have failed and could be sued for not educating kids. This goes to show all homeschoolers how little the home study staff understands the law regarding home study.
Enrollment: Alicia M Hanrahan is incorrect when she implies that enrollment on day 45 is a “presumptive enrollment” and somehow not the same as an enrollment she has reviewed and found to be complete. And that she is allowed to continue to ask for documentation after day 45 to get the enrollment to a “complete” status. Her opinion as to why she can continue to ask for information after enrollment is EXACTLY why the following information is in 166b(b)(1) and (2). The staff at the AOE may respond to a family signaling their intent to enroll a child in home study with one of three responses. This is in the statute on purpose to limit how the AOE is to contact enrollees. The allowed response to submission of an enrollment notice is as follows:
the enrollment is complete and the child is enrolled.
the enrollment is missing information, please provide in 14 days.
the child will be enrolled on day 45 after the enrollment was received.
If you are after 45 days and enrollment has automatically occurred, you should ask for #3 which is a letter stating that the child is now enrolled and nothing more.
HEARING PROCESS - 166b(e) and (f): This is a big deal and it costs a lot of money. And this has been in the statue from the beginning. The only difference between hearings before enrollment and hearings after enrollment is about who have the burden of proof. Before enrollment the parents have the burden of proof by what they submit. After enrollment that burden shifts to the AOE. Hearings after enrollment have a higher standard for the Secretary of AOE to even call a hearing. The three criteria are:
did parents substantially failed to comply with the requirements of this section
did parents substantially failed to provide a student with the minimum course of study
or will the home study program not provide a student with the minimum course of study
Again, did the parents SUBSTANTIALLY FAIL OR REUFUSE to meet the requirements? Or substantially fail provide a minimum course of study? Or did they simply refuse to provide? Alicia Hannrahan acknowledge this when she wrote that to call a hearing, they will need to do “careful review and fact finding”. The only way to prevent enrollment and to keep the burden of proof on the parents is to call a hearing BEFORE enrollment occurs.
This shift in burden of proof is why they can no longer ask you for more information after enrollment has occurred. After enrollment the AOE must get new information to prove that the parents have substantially failed to prove a minimum course of study.
SPECIAL EDUCATION - the threat with DCF, and children’s educational welfare: I will write up and send out another email talking about these issues. For further reading:
Compulsory attendance: https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/16/025/01121
Home Study statute: https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/16/003/00166b
Retta Dunlap
30+ years as a VT home school advocate
Phone: 802.472.5491
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Alicia M Hanrahan message: The AOE is diligently working through the backlog of home study enrollment notices. While the home study statute provides enrollment by default (“presumptive enrollment”) at the 45th day for parents, this is not the same thing as a family having a “complete” enrollment, for which AOE will send a “complete letter” if after review, all requirements of the statute have been complied with. Why is this important and why does AOE continue to require parents to complete their enrollment even after being enrolled by default after the 45th day? Vermont has an interest in protecting and educating all students. In the home study context, the State is required by federal law to locate, identify and evaluate all students with disabilities for which the Secretary of Education is the Superintendent state-wide. AOE and DCF work together on cases where educational neglect may be an issue and this would be exposed in a home study case where a parent provides an enrollment notice and does nothing more (even after the 45 days AOE would be required to provide notice of such cases to DCF.) This is part of the state’s interest in protecting students and complying with compulsory education requirements. The 45th day protects families from truancy, but that does not relieve the state from its responsibility to account for all children’s educational welfare. Minimum Course of Study Exemption: for returning families, part of receiving an exemption from providing a MCOS is complying with the statute which includes providing required information to the AOE, even after the 45 days. Lastly, if upon review, the AOE determines a home study program will not or has not complied with all requirements of the statute, the Secretary may call a hearing and terminate the enrollment. This is the statutory compromise between the state and home study families to protect the right of families to be protected from truancy and the AOE’s responsibility to work through the statutory requirements one family at a time. While an enrollment is automatic after 45 days, it is subject to termination by the Secretary after a hearing if the circumstances warrant such action which can only be determined after careful review and fact-finding. We ask for your understanding and continued patience as the AOE works through triple the normal case load of home study applications. AOE has added additional personnel to this work, but the review of enrollment materials required for compliance is labor intensive and cannot be automated as assessments and minimum course of study curriculum plans are read by AOE employees and this takes time. Alicia M Hanrahan [END]
Latest News: Public Schools closed and all children now learning from home.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Vermont Governor Scott announced on Sunday, March 15, 2020, that the public schools would be closed starting Wednesday, March 18, 2020. This action means that all public-school children would be home all day thereby mandating “homeschooling” as some have said. Well ….. not exactly. What was mandated was “crisis schooling” whereby parents and teachers had to implement a different plan of education for Vermont public school students.
The difference between what the Governor mandated and what homeschoolers do is all about who is in charge of the curriculum and it is a huge difference. Is this licensed teacher directed or parent directed education? Second, in addition to doing “school work” at home, homeschoolers spend a great deal of time out side of the home doing field trips, joining educational coops, and playing with friends. The pandemic “stay at home” orders affected homeschoolers too by suddenly not being able to do these things.
We want all parents to be successful at accomplishing what needs to be done in the care of their children whether they chose to homeschool or chose to send their kids to an institutional setting for their education. During this pandemic all families are at home struggling to work their way through these trying times.
Latest News: Senate Ed Bill S9 and background checks
Legislative update from Retta Dunlap when she testified in the Senate Ed Committee on January16, 2019 concerning S9 and background checks.
We discussed S9 for over an hour as I was given as much time as I needed to introduce homeschooling to the new members and then tie that into the issues of S9. Now that legislative council, who was also there, and committee members have a better understanding of what a home study program is, and after some committee discussion, I expect the next draft of S9 to be clearer than the “as introduced” language. **see note below** When they agree on the next draft, I will put it out in the wild for all to see and there will be more testimony needed.
The Committee was attentive and supportive of homeschooling in Vermont. They wish to leave the system that is called Home Study untouched and they DO NOT want homeschooling parents or guardians to have background checks to educate their own children. Also,they do not what them to have to get background checks on everyone who comes in contact with a home study student. For example, no background checks on the piano teacher nor on the person who is tutoring a child in math nor for everyone in a homeschooler enrichment program or coop.
However, Sen Baruth has a very specific concern which he tried to share with the committee through S9. And while, I do not necessarily feel his concern rises to the need of being address, the fact remains that he and the other committee members were elected to legislate areas of concern. What follows is a description of that concern:
In the Vermont Statutes, there are lists and lists of definitions that are to be used to define certain topics. Years ago, it was decided that the term “homeschooling” not have a statutory definition. However, the phrase “home study program” does and many people use the two terms interchangeably. This is the statutory definition of a home study program:
16 V.S.A. § 11. Classifications and definitions
(a) For the purposes of this title, unless the context otherwise clearly requires:
(21) "Home study program" means an educational program offered through home study which provides a minimum course of study and which is offered to not more than:
(A) children residing in that home; and
(B) children not residing in that home who either are two or fewer in number or who are from one family.
Most homeschooling families in Vermont fit under definition (A) in that they homeschool their own children in their own home in a home study program. Definition (B) was put into statute in the case the parents or guardians wanted to delegate the delivering of a home study program to someone else outside of their home. It is the second definition that gives the committee concern.
Even though definition (B) is rarely used, when I was homeschooling, I did fit this definition for a couple of years when I provided home study to my own children and to the children for one other family. Definition (B) could also be used in case of parents or guardians who want to delegate the delivery of a home study program to their children by a non-homeschooler while the parents or guardians are at work all day. In either case, whether another homeschooler or a non-homeschooler, if a person is delivering the home study program to a child that they are not the parent or guardian of ..… this is the person the committee wants to have a background check.
** Note: the “as introduced language” will not change on the Legislative website until it is voted out of committee. However, there can be many subsequent drafts of a bill after its introduction and before it is voted out of committee. I know that is not very transparent but that is the way it is done and why I go to the State House whenever they want to talk about home study in any way and ask for the most recent draft.