I second this. This isn't a homeschooling issue. Call the police to get their advice. Call the man's supervisor and inform them of what's going on and if there's no action call their supervisor, your municipal councilor or state representative. Find out what the state laws are on harrassment. This is the kind of stuff the HSLDA will be doing anyway. Granted, I've got issues with the HSLDA but there are lots of things we can deal with on our own and that are healthy for us to deal with ourselves. This is one of them.
As I was reading this thread I was thinking that there had to be something else behind the harrassment. If you don't have truant kids or problem parenting, then the issue is MONEY! Being from a small district and taking out 4 school-age kids and another family doing the same-it's the funding they are worried about. Having all those kids leave the school equals alot of lost funds. Don't let their harrassment make you second-guess your decision. You have the right to teach your own and you will do an awesome job at it! I would not call the police. As someone said, you need a lawyer. Call HSLD and tell them while your application and payment is pending, you have an emergency issue now. I'm sure there's something they can do. I'm sure a letter from them will be all it takes to shut the district up. Best of luck to you in getting this taken care of, Tina
Actually, I don't consider it an emergency issue. Yes, they are harrassing. Yes, I would let HSLDA know that this is what you're facing NOW. But they are NOT telling you that you CANNOT homeschool, you don't have a social worker or truant officer knocking at your door, no one is threatening to take the kids from you. I would not call the police, but I would record the date, time and NAME of everyone who calls. I would also tell them that you are recording this information to give to your lawyer. ("...And how do you spell that name, please?")
I don't consider it an emergency issue either,yet.But,I swear they called again this morning.They called "unknown number" again and left me a message that I call them back.Then they called my husband on his cell while he was still at work.They told him they want to meet with us and discuss our decision.DH flat out told them there was nothing to discuss,the decision is made and final,we have already paid for the curriculum,and we have already paid the year retainer fee for our attorney.He said he was polite but asked them to please stop calling,we are not changing our minds.So if they stop or not,remains to be seen. My biggest concern about all of this is that it will turn into one of those HSLDA case horror stories that I have read.I posted my concerns because I wanted to see if anyone else had dealt with the same thing or something similar.It didn't bother me so much at first,but that they are getting more intrusive now(i.e. calling with *69,calling DH at work) it just is really starting to bother me. I do appreciate all the posts and suggestions.Those that said calling the police might turn against me instead of for me,I will heed that warning.I don't want to make this any bigger than they are willing to take it.I will continue to ignore calls,save messages,etc.. If by August 19th(when PS school starts here)they have not let up I am just going to go ahead and call HSLDA to see if they have any suggestions at all.
My guess is that between your four kids and that other family's howevermany, in a small district situation, they might actually lose a teacher, or depending on the kids' grade levels, maybe two. I'm thinking maybe they can't get a waiver from the state to have one or two too many teachers for the number of kids in the grade or in the district or whatever. And then there's several thousand dollars per child. They sound desperate to me.
I very much doubt it will turn into a horror story. Have you talked with HSLDA yet? Calling your husband at work, imo, is crossing a line. I'm glad he was firm with them! He also mentioned the word "attorney" to them; that might have gotten their attention to where they will stop. As long as there's no attorney that knows the legal aspects, they can bully you into changing your mind. But as soon as they know you have an attorney who knows the law, they back off. Hopefully that's the last of it!
I've been following this post and this is just unbelievable! I really do think it involves the loss of money to the school system. I figured out that my local school lost about $6,000 when I took my son out and I know they don't spend anywhere near that much on him. The bus will still come by for other kids in the neighborhood, the teacher would still be there and my son didn't receive any special services. If the same is true for your children, and especially if it's a small school and every cent counts, they just lost lots of money that they were spending somewhere else. I hope the mention of "attorney" got their attention and they will leave you alone. It must be very stressful being a new homeschooler and having to put up with that.
According to NCES, the Arkansas per-pupil expenditure for fiscal year 2007 was $8400 (rounded). Your four kids = $33,600 http://www.nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/expenditures/tables/table_06.asp Boy! Couldn't you do some homeschooling if they were to give that money to YOU???? From the same site, I found this interesting: http://www.nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=91 Another page on the same site says AR's expenditures for the 07-08 school year were $8430, up from $8391 the previous year. So, yeah, I'm guessing it's about every red cent, and sooooooo not about concern for your children! Student Characteristics: Number enrolled: 479,016 Percent in Title I schools: 66.8% With Individualized Education Programs (IEP): 13.8% Percent in limited-English proficiency programs: 5.4% Percent eligible for free/reduced lunch: 56.2% Racial/Ethnic Background: White: 67.0% Black: 22.6% Hispanic: 8.1% Asian/Pacific Islander: 1.5% American Indian/Alaskan Native: 0.7% School/District Characteristics: Number of school districts: 245* Number of schools: 1133 Number of charter schools: 32 Per-pupil expenditures: $8,430 Pupil/teacher ratio: 14.1 Number of FTE teachers: 33,882 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Not available. * Local school districts only (type 1, 2). SOURCE: Common Core of Data, 2007-2008 school year (non-adjudicated)
This is ridiculous. Nothing more then trying to bully you back into sending your kids to their institution. I would say to them 'if and when we change our minds rest assured we won't be sending them back to an institution that adult bullies are running.' Disgusting I hope it goes well for you. We will pray for you.
Wow, Lindina, that's a lot of money! No wonder they won't leave her alone! How shameful of them to harrass her for money! It's not like they truly care about the education of her children (IMO)... they just see four little $$$$ walking around.
This is what I would do. "Hello? Oh, hi Principal xyz! Hold on a minute, I need to get my pen. Let me see, it is 8:55 a.m. on Friday, August 6th. And how do I spell your first name? Yes, my legal advisor has suggested I document these calls henceforth. Hold on one minute..." <if he keeps talking> "Hmm, okay, so let me make sure I'm writing this down correctly. You say that we should <repeat back information in one-sentence summary>. Hold on, I just need to make sure I write it down correctly. You know how detail-oriented those pesky lawyers are." <and if he keeps going, listen and write, and at the close> "Well, thank you for calling. Let's see, I have the time as 9:20. That makes this a 25 minute call. Let me just write that down..." I bet after one of those calls, it's the last one.
Just sending out some more encouragement to stand your ground. You and your husband have made a wise decision and I'm so glad to hear that you're supporting each other. It makes me realize how blessed I am to only have to deal with the one complaint letter each fall demanding more info than they are legally required to have. I just send them a copy of the law, and they leave me alone for the rest of the year. After reading about your situation, I realize I have nothing to gripe about.
I would stop answering the phone. Do you have caller ID? My son's old principle was like this. The sad part is I am friends with her and several of his old teachers. The teachers were all supportive but the principle really got on my nerves. Now when we all go out we don't even talk about HS when she's there.
i'm in arkansas too...what county are you in? I've never had that happen...and i've homeschooled for 5 years. Us arkansas girls gotta stick together!
You know-I'd call the phone company (or you might can do this yourself-depending on your phone service) and block all unknown numbers and the numbers they are calling from. Though I rarely ever answer my phone LOL Never for an 'unknown name/number' or any 800 numbers or anything-in fact-if I don't know who it is-I don't answer it-so if I don't have your cell memorized-you better leave a message LOL Also-I'd call HSLDA and let them know my membership is pending and just inform them of the situation-they might place a phone call for you-which a phone call alone might be enough. I've heard of them making a simple phone call for non-members before.
We are in Van Buren county,just north of Clinton in Fairfield Bay.We were living in Hot Springs.It's only 2.5 hrs. away but,MAN!What an adjustment it has been! The closest homeschool support group is in Clinton,and the very nice lady I talked to said she doesn't get many families from up this way,but the few she has gotten have said they make it rough.She did say though-to my great relief,that it has never gotten truly ugly.
They havn't called (me) back since the last conversation with hubby!But,we are getting our numbers changed today anyway!
If the number shows up again-Hang up on them. I mean seriously-you don't deserve that. Yay for you changing the number!
