Washington
Washington Dept of Education Homeschooling
| 28A.200.010 | Home-based instruction -- Duties of parents -- Exemption from high school assessment requirements. |
| 28A.200.020 | Home-based instruction -- Certain decisions responsibility of parent unless otherwise specified. |
RCW 28A.200.010: Home-based instruction — Duties of parents — Exemption from high school assessment requirements. |
(1) Each parent whose child is receiving home-based
instruction under RCW 28A.225.010(4)
shall have the duty to:
(a) File annually a signed declaration of intent that he or she
is planning to cause his or her child to receive home-based instruction. The statement
shall include the name and age of the child, shall specify whether a certificated person
will be supervising the instruction, and shall be written in a format prescribed by the
superintendent of public instruction. Each parent shall file the statement by September
15th of the school year or within two weeks of the beginning of any public school quarter,
trimester, or semester with the superintendent of the public school district within which
the parent resides or the district that accepts the transfer, and the student shall be
deemed a transfer student of the nonresident district. Parents may apply for transfer
under RCW 28A.225.220;
(b) Ensure that test scores or annual academic progress
assessments and immunization records, together with any other records that are kept
relating to the instructional and educational activities provided, are forwarded to any
other public or private school to which the child transfers. At the time of a transfer to
a public school, the superintendent of the local school district in which the child
enrolls may require a standardized achievement test to be administered and shall have the
authority to determine the appropriate grade and course level placement of the child after
consultation with parents and review of the child's records; and
(c) Ensure that a standardized achievement test approved by the
state board of education is administered annually to the child by a qualified individual
or that an annual assessment of the student's academic progress is written by a
certificated person who is currently working in the field of education. The state board of
education shall not require these children to meet the student learning goals, master the
essential academic learning requirements, to take the assessments, or to obtain a
certificate of academic achievement or a certificate of individual achievement pursuant to
RCW 28A.655.061 and
28A.155.045. The
standardized test administered or the annual academic progress assessment written shall be
made a part of the child's permanent records. If, as a result of the annual test or
assessment, it is determined that the child is not making reasonable progress consistent
with his or her age or stage of development, the parent shall make a good faith effort to
remedy any deficiency.
(2) Failure of a parent to comply with the duties in this section
shall be deemed a failure of such parent's child to attend school without valid
justification under RCW 28A.225.020.
Parents who do comply with the duties set forth in this section shall be presumed to be
providing home-based instruction as set forth in RCW 28A.225.010(4).
[2004 c 19 § 107; 1995 c 52 § 1; 1993 c 336 § 1103; 1990 c 33 § 178; 1985 c 441 § 2. Formerly RCW 28A.27.310.]
RCW 28A.200.020: Home-based instruction — Certain decisions responsibility of parent unless otherwise specified. |
The state hereby recognizes that parents who are causing their children to receive home-based instruction under RCW 28A.225.010(4) shall be subject only to those minimum state laws and regulations which are necessary to insure that a sufficient basic educational opportunity is provided to the children receiving such instruction. Therefore, all decisions relating to philosophy or doctrine, selection of books, teaching materials and curriculum, and methods, timing, and place in the provision or evaluation of home-based instruction shall be the responsibility of the parent except for matters specifically referred to in this chapter.
[1990 c 33 § 179; 1985 c 441 § 3. Formerly RCW 28A.27.320.]
RCW 28A.225.010: Attendance mandatory — Age — Exceptions. |
(1) All parents in this state of any child eight
years of age and under eighteen years of age shall cause such child to attend the public
school of the district in which the child resides and such child shall have the
responsibility to and therefore shall attend for the full time when such school may be in
session unless:
(a) The child is attending an approved private school for the
same time or is enrolled in an extension program as provided in RCW 28A.195.010(4);
(b) The child is receiving home-based instruction as provided in
subsection (4) of this section;
(c) The child is attending an education center as provided in
chapter 28A.205 RCW;
(d) The school district superintendent of the district in which
the child resides shall have excused such child from attendance because the child is
physically or mentally unable to attend school, is attending a residential school operated
by the department of social and health services, is incarcerated in an adult correctional
facility, or has been temporarily excused upon the request of his or her parents for
purposes agreed upon by the school authorities and the parent: PROVIDED, That such excused
absences shall not be permitted if deemed to cause a serious adverse effect upon the
student's educational progress: PROVIDED FURTHER, That students excused for such temporary
absences may be claimed as full time equivalent students to the extent they would
otherwise have been so claimed for the purposes of RCW 28A.150.250 and 28A.150.260 and shall
not affect school district compliance with the provisions of RCW 28A.150.220; or
(e) The child is sixteen years of age or older and:
(i) The child is regularly and lawfully employed and either the
parent agrees that the child should not be required to attend school or the child is
emancipated in accordance with chapter 13.64 RCW;
(ii) The child has already met graduation requirements in
accordance with state board of education rules and regulations; or
(iii) The child has received a certificate of educational
competence under rules and regulations established by the state board of education under
RCW 28A.305.190.
(2) A parent for the purpose of this chapter means a parent,
guardian, or person having legal custody of a child.
(3) An approved private school for the purposes of this chapter
and chapter 28A.200 RCW
shall be one approved under regulations established by the state board of education
pursuant to RCW 28A.305.130.
(4) For the purposes of this chapter and chapter 28A.200 RCW, instruction
shall be home-based if it consists of planned and supervised instructional and related
educational activities, including a curriculum and instruction in the basic skills of
occupational education, science, mathematics, language, social studies, history, health,
reading, writing, spelling, and the development of an appreciation of art and music,
provided for a number of hours equivalent to the total annual program hours per grade
level established for approved private schools under RCW 28A.195.010 and 28A.195.040 and if
such activities are:
(a) Provided by a parent who is instructing his or her child only
and are supervised by a certificated person. A certificated person for purposes of this
chapter and chapter 28A.200
RCW shall be a person certified under chapter 28A.410 RCW. For purposes
of this section, "supervised by a certificated person" means: The planning by
the certificated person and the parent of objectives consistent with this subsection; a
minimum each month of an average of one contact hour per week with the child being
supervised by the certificated person; and evaluation of such child's progress by the
certificated person. The number of children supervised by the certificated person shall
not exceed thirty for purposes of this subsection; or
(b) Provided by a parent who is instructing his or her child only
and who has either earned forty-five college level quarter credit hours or its equivalent
in semester hours or has completed a course in home-based instruction at a postsecondary
institution or a vocational-technical institute; or
(c) Provided by a parent who is deemed sufficiently qualified to
provide home-based instruction by the superintendent of the local school district in which
the child resides.
(5) The legislature recognizes that home-based instruction is
less structured and more experiential than the instruction normally provided in a
classroom setting. Therefore, the provisions of subsection (4) of this section relating to
the nature and quantity of instructional and related educational activities shall be
liberally construed.
[1998 c 244 § 14; 1996 c 134 § 1; 1990 c 33 § 219; 1986 c 132 § 1; 1985 c 441 § 1; 1980 c 59 § 1; 1979 ex.s. c 201 § 4; 1973 c 51 § 1; 1972 ex.s. c 10 § 2. Prior: 1971 ex.s. c 215 § 2; 1971 ex.s. c 51 § 1; 1969 ex.s. c 109 § 2; 1969 ex.s. c 223 § 28A.27.010; prior: 1909 p 364 § 1; RRS § 5072; prior: 1907 c 240 § 7; 1907 c 231 § 1; 1905 c 162 § 1; 1903 c 48 § 1; 1901 c 177 § 11; 1899 c 140 § 1; 1897 c 118 § 71. Formerly RCW 28A.27.010, 28.27.010.]