School called me today. Not accepting letter I'm in Texas

As you know my son's last day was Friday. I sent the letter to school certified mail RR saying he would no longer be in school and I intend to hs. Which is what the Texas HS Coaliliton's website said. The school called today and I simply said He will no longer be attending your school we are homeschooling him. She said you need to come in and fill out paperwork and talk with the principal. I replied with I mailed you a letter cmrr which should be enough. She replied with until you come in and fill out the form he will be counted absent and with the absents he has I will be filing Truence charges if he is not here tomorrow or you do not come up and withdraw. I don't have a big issue going up there but I thought I could just send the letter so I don't have to deal with them anymore. Plus she was very rude about the whole thing. Any advice. It's funny how they can't talk with me when there's a major issue but want me to come in in the morning and meet with them.

 

See now, from what I have read up on all you would need is a letter. MO law says that if you take your child out of school you must send them a letter, everything else is not necessary. I assume that thats what it would be in TX too, if law says to just send a letter. I would suggest contacting the HSLDA and ask them the question if you can. Once our kids turn 5 or 6 we are signing up for a lifetime membership with them so we can have legal council when we need it. I suggest you look into it, and find out right away if you can ask them.

 

The principal of my daughter's school asked us to meet with her when we withdrew her as well. My advice is to be non-confrontational and friendly. You know your rights, so have confidence in what you're doing.

In our case, they wanted to offer my daughter another placement, rather than lose her completely. We thanked them for the offer, and for their concern. We then reassured them that we weren't anti-school, we just felt that homeschooling was the best option for us at this time. And then I shared with them some of my plans and enthusiasm for educating her.

When they saw that we had done our research and were prepared for the task, they were actually quite nice about it and wished us well. Some parents in my neighbourhood have even managed to work out partnerships with their schools whereby their children attend just to take gym or art, while they do all the rest of the teaching at home.

I think it's important not to burn any bridges. They aren't evil people, and some day you may need to work with them again.

Be polite, be friendly, and stick to your guns.

 

Check the Texas Homeschool Coalition's advice for following up with the district threatening with a form. A lot of times, I think the people in the office aren't aware that what they're asking for is illegal and that those forms aren't actually required at all.

I'd say that you'd consulted legal experts, and you did all you needed to do.

From the TX Coalition site:

9. What if a school district official calls or a truant officer comes to the door?

Be polite and friendly. Smile. Stay calm.

Get his name and business card.

Ask what prompted his visit or call.

Tell him, "My children are privately educated at home."

Answer other questions with, "I will be glad to cooperate as far as the law requires, but you will need to give me your request in writing."

Repeat the above statements as often as necessary. Do not be afraid of silence.

After he leaves, write down everything that occurred.

Call THSC Association, (806) 744-4441, as soon as possible to report the contact.

Do not allow him to enter your home or to speak to your children. The only legal ways into your home are with your permission or a search warrant. If you receive a written request, respond with a letter of assurance. (See sample.) If you do not respond to a written request in a timely manner, the school district can file truancy charges against you for lack of cooperation.

Back to SCHOOL DISTRICT



10. What if the school district wants me to fill out a form?

You may fill out the form if you wish. However, THSC does not recommend following this procedure. In order to cooperate with the school district's inquiry, you are only required to give the assurance letter mentioned above. Many times, forms ask for information that is not required and you may not want to give. Also, voluntary compliance with an unlawful request can often lead to the request becoming mandatory.

 

Shelley is right on! If it were me I would not go to the school and I would not fill out any forms whatsoever. Why? Because you don't have to and they have no legal reason to ask you to do so. I would simply tell the person on the phone that you have fullfilled your responsibilities for withdrawing your child and if they choose to not obey the law and count your child absent you will contact the proper authorities. Just what I'd do.

 

According to they way I understand your state laws (I'm in GA) The most I would do is meet in person and take a hard copy of your letter of intent to put in their hands on the spot.

If it is illegal to for them to ask you to give more info (it is here in GA) I'd be sure to tell them. You may want to print out your state laws to take with you as well (might save some future homeschooler some trouble) I'm sure most people who work in public schools rarely read up on homeschool laws.

Good luck!

 

I would meet and give them a copy of what you sent, and no more. Under NO circumstances would I let him attend school or even set foot in the building again.
I would keep a journal at home.
Along with that letter, you may give her a copy of the law, and highlight the areas that state a withdrawal letter is all you are required to do.
If someone came to my door, I would simply tell them I homeschool, and provide them a copy of your withdrawal letter and a copy of the certified form you got back proving you mailed it. They would get nothing more from me w/o a warrant.

 

Personally, I try not to be confrontational on matters like this. (Let me restate that: I used to be confrontational, but through the years my good wife has shown time and again the value of just being pleasant.) As Meg wisely suggested, you never know when you'll next bump into these people and need their help with something. Anyway, it takes fewer muscles to smile than to frown.

In general, though, I try to be very well prepared for everything I do - doing the necessary research and absolutely knowing my rights. Then, when dealing with people, I can be pleasant but firm. In any "negotiation", knowledge is power, and that's just as true here.

So, if it were me, I would go to the school. If the form is rather innocuous, I'd complete it. On the other hand, if I felt that it's a power-play on the part of the school, then I'd politely decline.

 

If you are a memeber of HSLA or THC call them and give them the information and they will handle it from there. You do not have to go in to fill out paper work.

 

Shelley is right on. I'd probably just ignore the request (maybe put in a tentative call to THSC and get their suggestion/s) and follow her guidelines listed above if anyone shows up. Might even have a handy dandy copy of the law from HSLDA printed out to hand them.

You sent the letter and that is ALL that is required. I agree about having them put any requests in writing as well.

 

I'd be calling THSC and asking them specifics on the law. They know!!! I would also join HSLDA right away. Then, if they should call him truant and someone knocks on your door, you can call HSLDA and hand the phone out the door to them.

I would not fill out their paperwork. JMHO, but if you comply by jumping through this hoop, they will try to add another...and another...and another. The school district called me about something one time. I politely told her that the information requested was not required by law. At which point I was told that EVERYONE ELSE she called supplied the information when asked.... I told her that they ("everyone else") were free to give whatever information they wanted, but it was NOT required by law and so I was free NOT to give it out.

 

Wow - homeschooling in the United States sounds a lot more complicated than it is in Ontario.

My son's kindy teacher recommended homeschooling to us. All I did at the end of Kindergarten was simply not send him to Grade 1. No one ever checked up on us. In grade 3 my daughter ran into a teacher who really didn't like her. We met with the principal and told her we were withdrawing our child from school. I felt so bad for the principal! She seemed to feel that she'd failed us. There were no forms, or anything.

So, from what everyone else is saying, I definitely think my advice earlier in this thread is off base. I'm sorry about that. And I'm very glad I don't live in Texas!

 

Meg, it varies from state to state. Texas is one of the easiest. She should have been able to send her letter, bring her home, and that should have been the end of it. However, some districts are full of themselves, and this one seems to be one of them! Too bad they're not required to know the law!

 

Check out cases here...

http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/TX/default.asp

Sounds like a well-written letter stating the law should be enough to get them to back off.

 

Some families in our state who went in person to inform the ps that they were going to homeschool their children, were almost verbally abused. The office people shouting at the parents told them that they did not know what they were doing and were going to ruin their kids. This was probably the public school's way of detering the parents from homeschooling. I never had such a problem but my kids were never in public school.

If I were you, I would double check my rights, join HSLD, and then decline any further information. I would send another letter in the mail or in person if they said they did not get the first. Keep all records of when the letters were sent, the law, and what was said to the best of your memory. I would also very nicely tell them that I will not comply with their request because they had no legal rights asking. Perhaps the school people do not know the law or perhaps they are just trying to bully you into leaving your children in public school.

When our local school district got a new person (whatever his offical title was), the school sent a letter with a questionaire form for the parents to fill out. The questions were nothing required by law. The higher powers, who may have been HSLD or WHO, informed the school district that they had no right to do that. The school mailed the questionaire back to the parents with an apology letter. This one time I knew my rights and ignored the letter and questionaire but it sure did make me nervous.

 

If your child is in public school, then they normally have a withdrawal form for their records. It shows you turned in all your books. It isn't necessary but if you don't fill them out they can say you owe them money for books or they won't release his records b/c of them.
It did not say that I had to fill out a withdrawal form in my state. You are just to send in a letter. However, until I filled out the form they marked her absent and were sending a truancy officer. I went in and filled out a simple form that said that they had all the books and had copied her records for me.
It was easy and simple. They didn't ask for anything strange or information that wasn't necessary. In fact, it gave me something to say that I had turned in all the books and she had no library fees or her lunch account was in arrears.
Just my thought. Go in and see the form. If it is ridiculous, tell them it isn't legal. If it is a simple withdrawal form stating that you owe no money and have turned in all library books and books of the schools, then it is harmless and gives you something that shows you don't owe the school anything else.

 

Actually, Texas is awesome for homeschooling. We're regarded as private schools, and, therefore, we are off the state radar as far as controls go.

I imagine this was a woman who was asked to try to get someone to fill out some paperwork and took that as, "She has to fill out this paperwork." She probably doesn't know the law and figured that it was an imperative rather than a suggestion.

I have a friend who homeschools and she took her daughter for testing through the local school's special education services. She said the woman was really friendly and stated up-front that no one was going to try to convince her to put her daughter into school and that they fully supported her right to homeschool her child. She had zero problems from them and found them very complimentary.

So, just like anywhere, it's going to come down to how tight a knot someone's undies are in. This woman from this district apparently has a pair of undies several sizes too small; they're cutting off the oxygen to her brain!

 

:lol: Isn't that the truth!

My husband says some of the extra regulation may be because your school funding is tied to a student head count - is that true?

We have a great deal of freedom, but on the flip side we also have a lot of kids who only go to school when they feel like it. There's no truancy enforcement. My husband remembers taking off for a week to go moose hunting, and them giving him a hard time when he got back. He just laughed at them - his grades were fine, so there in his mind there was no problem.

 

The letter of intent should be enough. There are no more forms required to be filled out by law.
And even if the form is a withdrawal form you DO NOT have to fill it out. The letter of intent tells them that you are withdrawing your child. Don't let them bully you! Most likely this is a case of not knowing the law. Send them another letter of intent and a copy of the state law reguarding withdrawal and homeschooling. I would NOT set foot in that school. It's not required by law and you did all you have to do. Call HSLDA or THSC and ask them what they recommend you do.

 

Oh, and if they call again, you might ask the name of the person you're talking to. "So I can give it to my lawyer when I call him as soon as I get off the phone with you...." LOL!