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Hawaii home
schooling laws and regulations cannot be summarized in a short
informational page or overview. It is incumbent upon
you to perform due diligence in researching and
familiarizing yourself with your state's legal's and
regulations as they pertain to homeschooling. This
information is provided for you to give you a
starting point. This is not intended to be legal
advice and is distributed for basic informational
purposes only. For more information about the laws
and regulations in this state please contact a state
or local support group or your public library.
Hawaii Home Schooling Compulsory School Age all children who will have arrived at the age of
6 years, and who will not have arrived at the age of 18years, by January 1 of any school year
Homeschoolers must file a notice of
intent with the principal of the local public school. No
approval is needed. The required "written record of the
planned curriculum" is not ordinarily shared with the
school. An annual progress report is required; progress may
be shown through testing, evaluation by a certified teacher,
or parent-written report providing statements of progress in
each subject area and samples of the student's work.
Standardized test scores are normally required in grades 3,
6, 8, and 10, but there are provisions for alternatives to
standardized testing.
§8-12-1 Purpose
§8-12-2 Definitions
§8-12-3 Applicability
§8-12-4 Conditions for exceptions §8-12-5 Procedures for exceptions
due to handicapping conditions
§8-12-6 Procedures for exceptions
due to employment §8-12-7 Procedures for exceptions
due to family court order
§8-12-8 Procedures for exceptions
for alternative educational programs, other than home
schooling §8-12-9 Testing and progress
reports of children excepted for alternative educational
programs, other than home schooling
§8-12-10 Instructional personnel of
alternative educational programs, other than home schooling §8-12-11 High school diploma,
alternative education programs, other than home schooling §8-12-12 College entrance
examination, alternative education
§8-12-13 Notification of intent to
home school §8-12-14 Required statutory
services §8-12-15 Record of
curriculum§8-12-2
12-2
§8-12-16 Notification of
termination of home schooling
§8-12-17 Educational neglect
§8-12-18 Testing and progress
reports of home-schooled children
§8-12-19 Instructional personnel of
home-schooled children
§8-12-20 Credits
§8-12-21 High school diploma for
home-schooled children§8-12-1
12-2
§8-12-22 College entrance
examination and home-schooled children
§8-12-4
§8-12-1 Purpose. The
department has a legitimate interest in and the
responsibility for the appropriate education of all school
age children in the State of Hawaii. It is the purpose of
this chapter to implement the compulsory attendance
exceptions of §302A-1132, Hawaii Revised Statutes.
Implementing the compulsory attendance law is not intended
to violate the rights and convictions of parents to home
school or otherwise except their child from compulsory
attendance. Finally, home schooling is not considered a
school initiated educational alternative and is not to be
used by a school as a means for releasing students with
behavior or disciplinary problems or students lacking
credits to graduate from the local public school. [Eff.
11/7/91; am and comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS §§302A-1112,
302A-1132) (Imp: HRS §302A-1132)
§8-12-2 Definitions. As
used in this chapter:
"Alternative educational program"
means an educational program, in a non-school setting other
than home schooling, which addresses the standards
identified in the Hawaii Content and Performance Standards. "Department" means the department
of education. "Employment" means suitable, lawful
full-time employment of a minimum of forty hours per week. "Home schooling" means a viable
educational option where a parent instructs the parent's own
child. "Local public school" means the
school the child would be enrolled in if the child was not
excepted from compulsory school attendance. "Parent" means the natural or legal
parent, guardian or other legal custodian of child. "School age child" means a child
who will have arrived at the age of at least six years, and
who will not have arrived at the age of eighteen years on or
before December 31 of any school year.
"Tutoring" means an alternative
educational program where an individual other than the
parent instructs a child. [Eff. 11/7/91; am and comp
5/13/00] (Auth: HRS §§302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS
§302A-1132)§8-12-5
12-3
§8-12-3 Applicability. The
provisions of this chapter apply to all school age children
residing in the State of Hawaii. [Eff. 11/7/91; comp
5/13/00] (Auth: HRS §302A-1112) (Imp: HRS §§302A-1112,
302A-1132)§8-12-8
12-5 12-4
§8-12-4 Conditions for
exceptions. School age children may be excepted from
compulsory school attendance in the following cases: (1) Where a child is physically or
mentally unable to attend school, except for deafness and
blindness, of which fact the certificate of a duly licensed
physician shall be sufficient evidence;
(2) Where any child who has reached
the fifteenth anniversary of birth is suitably and lawfully
employed; (3) Where a family court judge has
approved withdrawal from school;
(4) Where the superintendent of
education or designee has approved an appropriate,
alternative educational program, other than home schooling;
and (5) Where the parent of a school
age child has provided notification of intent to homeschool
the child. [Eff. 11/7/91; comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS
§§302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS §302A-1132)
§8-12-5 Procedures for
exceptions due to disabilities. (a) A parent whose
child is physically or mentally unable to attend school,
deafness and blindness excepted, shall complete and submit
Form 4140, Exceptions to Compulsory Education, to the local
public school. (b) A parent whose child is
physically or mentally unable to attend school, deafness and
blindness excepted, shall also submit sufficient evidence of
the identified disabilities to the local public school. A
certificate from a duly licensed physician shall be
sufficient evidence.
(c) The district superintendent may
approve withdrawal from school for exceptions due to
identified disabilities.
(d) Requests for exceptions due to
identified disabilities shall be renewed annually. [Eff.
11/7/91; am and comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS §§302A-1112,
302A-1132) (Imp: HRS §302A-1132)§8-12-6
12-4
§8-12-6 Procedures for
exceptions due to employment. (a) A parent whose child
has reached the fifteenth anniversary of birth and is
suitably and lawfully employed shall complete and submit
Form 4140, Exceptions to Compulsory
Education, to the local public school for the principal's
recommendation as to whether the exception should be
granted. The form shall then be submitted to the district
superintendent for approval.
(b) A family court judge may also
approve an exception due to employment.
(c) The student to be exempted from
attendance shall be employed full-time for a minimum of
forty hours per week.
(d) The student's employer shall
notify the school within three days if employment is
terminated. The student shall return to the school unless
the student provides the principal with verification of new
employment. (e) Requests for exception due to employment
shall be renewed annually. [Eff. 11/7/91; am and comp
5/13/00] (Auth: HRS §§302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS
§302A-1132)
§8-12-7 Procedures for
exceptions due to family court order. (a) Approval for
exceptions due to family court order shall be authorized by
a family court judge.
(b) The approval of the family
court judge shall be obtained on Form 4140, Exceptions to
Compulsory Education, and submitted to the local public
school. (c) Requests for an exception due
to family court order shall be reviewed and renewed
annually. [Eff. 11/7/91; am and comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS
§§302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS §302A-1132)
§8-12-8 Procedures for
exceptions for alternative educational programs, other than
home schooling.
(a) The parent of a child
requesting a compulsory attendance exception for an
alternative educational program other than home schooling
shall complete and submit Form 4140, Exceptions to
Compulsory Education, to the local public school. (b) For purposes of this chapter,
enrollment in a private school's home study school program
shall not be construed as equivalent to attendance at a
private school.§8-12-8
12-5
(c) The parent requesting an
exception under this section shall submit to the local
public school principal a planned curriculum for the child
along with the Form 4140. The curriculum shall be structured
and based on educational objectives as well as the needs of
the child, be cumulative and sequential, provide a range of
up-to-date knowledge and needed skills, and take into
account the interests, needs and abilities of the child.
The submittal shall include the following: (1) The commencement date and
ending date of the program;
(2) The number of hours per week
the child will spend in instruction which shall average
approximately three hours per school day; (3) The subject areas to be covered
in the planned curriculum:
(A) An elementary school curriculum
may include the areas of language arts, mathematics, social
studies, science, art, music, health and physical education
12-7
§8-12-9
12-6
to be offered at the appropriate
development stage of the child.
(B) A secondary school curriculum
may include the subject areas of social studies, English,
mathematics, science, health, physical education and
guidance. (4) The method used to determine
mastery of materials and subjects in the curriculum; and (5) A list of textbooks or other
instructional materials which will be used. The list shall
be in standard bibliographical format. For books, the
author, title, publisher and date of publication shall be
indicated. For magazines the author, article title,
magazine, date, volume number and pages shall be indicated. (d) The superintendent or the
superintendent's designee may approve withdrawal from school
where an appropriate educational program other than home
schooling is developed for the child in accordance with the
plans and policies of the department.
(e) A request for an exception for
an alternative educational program other than home schooling
shall be renewed annually.
(f) Further exceptions to the
provisions of this chapter concerning a child's alternative
educational program may be granted by the superintendent
upon the §8-12-8
12-6
written request of the parent and
the recommendations of the principal and the district
superintendent. [Eff. 11/7/91; am and comp 5/13/00] (Auth:
HRS §§302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS §302A-1132)
§8-12-9 Testing and progress
reports of children excepted for alternative educational
programs, other than home schooling. (a) Test scores
are required for grades identified in the Statewide Testing
Program. A child is eligible and required to participate in
the Statewide Testing Program at the local public school.
Parents shall be responsible for securing necessary details
from the principal of the school. The parents may elect to
arrange for private testing at their own expense. The tests
used shall be comparable to the appropriate criterion or
norm-referenced tests used by the department in the grades
concerned. The parents shall inform the school principal if
private testing will be used for purposes of this
chapter.§8-12-10
12-7
(b) A narrative progress report and
report card from the professional staff or tutor of a
child's alternative educational program shall be submitted
by the family to the local public school principal at the
end of each school year. More frequent progress reports may
be requested by the principal.
(c) The narrative report shall
include statements of progress in each of the subject areas
as well as development in social awareness and understanding
of self, understanding of the problems of the society and
the culture, and independence in learning. Copies of tests
or assignments, if available, shall be attached to the
narrative report. Grades for courses shall be submitted.
The principal shall judge the adequacy of progress of a
child. If progress is not satisfactory, the principal shall
meet with the parent to discuss the problems and establish a
plan for improvement.
(d) If progress is not
satisfactory, the principal may recommend to the district
superintendent that the exception be rescinded. (e) The parent shall notify the
principal if the alternative educational program is
terminated. The child shall be re-enrolled in the local
public school or licensed private school unless satisfactory
evidence of a new alternative educational program is
presented §8-12-18
12-11
within five school days after the
termination of the former alternative educational
program.§8-12-12
12-7
(f) At the discretion of the
principal of the school, a child may be tested for placement
when entering or reentering public school. [Eff. 11/7/91; am
and comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS §§302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp:
HRS §302A-1132)
§8-12-10 Instructional
personnel of alternative educational programs, other than
home schooling. (a) Instructional personnel in the
alternative educational program shall be qualified to
provide appropriate education to the child served. (b) Professional staff members or
tutors, or both, providing instruction shall be persons who
have at a minimum earned a bachelor's degree from an
accredited college or university. Satisfactory evidence of
the qualifications shall be presented to the local school
principal at the time Form 4140 is submitted. This evidence
shall include the following:12-11
(1) Names, addresses, and telephone
numbers of instructional personnel;
(2) Place of employment, other than
the alternative educational program, if any; and (3) Official transcripts verifying
educational background.
(c) Nonprofessional staff, for
example, teacher assistants, in the alternative educational
program may assist the professional staff but shall not have
the full responsibility of instructing the child. [Eff.
11/7/91; am and comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS §§302A-1112,
302A-1132) (Imp: HRS §302A-1132)
§8-12-11 High school diploma,
alternative education programs, other than home schooling. (a) A child in an alternative
educational program other than home schooling who wants a
high school diploma shall comply with the requirements
outlined in Department of Education Regulation No. 4540.2,
High School Graduation Through the Adult Schools. (b) The diploma shall be awarded by
the community school for adults. [Eff. 11/7/91; comp
5/13/00] (Auth: HRS §§302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS
§302A-1132)
§8-12-12 College entrance
examination, alternative education. A child in an
alternative educational program may participate in any
college entrance examination which is made available to all
other §8-12-12
§8-12-13 Notification of intent
to home school. (a) The parent shall provide the local
public school principal with a notice of intent to home
educate the child before initiating home schooling. The
purpose of notification is to allow the department, upon
request of the parent, to assist in the educational efforts.
The notice of intent may be submitted on a department
developed form (Form 4140) or in a letter containing the
following items: (1) Name, address, and telephone
number of the child;
(2) Birthdate and grade level of
the child; and (3) Signature of the parent. (b) The notice of intent shall be
acknowledged by the principal and the district
superintendent. The notice of intent is for record keeping
purposes and to §8-12-15
12-9
protect families from unfounded
accusations of educational neglect or truancy. (c) If a child's annual progress
report has been submitted as stated in §8-12-18(b),
notification of intent to home school need not be
resubmitted annually, except in cases where the child is
transferring from one local public school to another, for
example, transition from sixth grade to an intermediate
school. Then the parents shall notify the principal of the
child's new local public school.
(d) The parent(s) submitting a
notice to home school a child shall be responsible for the
child's total educational program including athletics and
other co-curricular activities. [Eff. 11/7/91; am and comp
5/13/00] (Auth: HRS §§302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS
§302A-1132)
§8-12-14 Required statutory
services. All educational and related services
statutorily mandated shall be made available at the home
public school site to home-schooled children who have been
evaluated and certified as needing educational and related
services and who request the services. [Eff. 11/7/91; comp
5/13/00] (Auth: HRS §§302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS
§302A-1132)
§8-12-15 Record of curriculum.
The parent submitting a notice of intent to home school
shall keep §8-12-17
12-9
a record of the planned curriculum
for the child. The curriculum shall be structured and based
on educational objectives as well as the needs of the child,
be cumulative and sequential, provide a range of up-to-date
knowledge and needed skills, and take into account the
interests, needs and abilities of the child. The record of
the planned curriculum should include the following: (1) The commencement date and
ending date of the program;
(2) A record of the number of hours
per week the child spends in instruction; (3) The subject areas to be covered
in the planned curriculum:
(A) An elementary school curriculum
may include the areas of language arts, mathematics, social
studies, science, art, music, health and physical education
to be offered at the appropriate development stage of the
child;§8-12-18
12-10
(B) A secondary school curriculum
may include the subject areas of social studies, English,
mathematics, science, health, physical education and
guidance. (4) The method used to determine
mastery of materials and subjects in the curriculum; and
(5) A list of textbooks or
other instructional materials which will be used.
The list shall be in standard bibliographical
format. For books, the author, title, publisher and
date of publication shall be indicated. For
magazines, the author, article title, magazine,
date, volume number and pages shall be indicated. [Eff.
11/7/91; comp 5/13/00]
§8-12-16 Notification
of termination of home schooling. The parent
shall notify the principal if home schooling is
terminated. A child shall be re-enrolled in the
local public school or licensed private school
unless a new alternative educational program is
presented within five school days after the
termination of home schooling. [Eff. 11/7/91; comp
5/13/00] (Auth: HRS §§302A-1112, 302A-1132)
(Imp: HRS §302A-1132)
§8-12-17 Educational
neglect. If there is reasonable cause for the
principal to believe that there §8-12-17
12-10
is educational neglect, the
department in compliance with §302A-1132, Hawaii
Revised Statutes, shall intervene and take
appropriate action in accordance with established
departmental procedures. Reasonable cause for
educational neglect shall not be based on the
refusal of parents to comply with any requests which
exceed the requirements of this chapter. [Eff.
11/7/91; am and comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS
§§302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS §302A-1132)
§8-12-18 Testing and
progress reports of home-schooled children. (a)
Test scores shall be required for grades identified
in the Statewide Testing Program, grades three,
five, eight, and ten. A child is eligible to
participate in the Statewide Testing Program at the
local public school. The parent is responsible for
securing necessary details from the principal of the
local public school. The parent may elect to arrange
for private testing at the parent's own expense. The
tests used shall be comparable to the appropriate
criterion or norm-referenced tests used by the
department in the grades concerned. The parent may
request and the principal may approve other means of
evaluation to meet the Statewide Testing Program
requirements.
(b) The parent shall submit
to the principal an annual report of a child's
progress. The following methods shall be used to
demonstrate satisfactory progress: (1) A score on a
nationally-normed standardized achievement test
which demonstrates grade level achievement
appropriate to a child's age;
(2) Progress on a
nationally-normed standardized achievement test that
is equivalent to one grade level per calendar year,
even if the overall achievement falls short of grade
level standards;
(3) A written evaluation by
a person certified to teach in the State of Hawaii
that a child demonstrates appropriate grade level
achievement or significant annual advancement
commensurate with a child's abilities; or (4) A written evaluation by
the parent which shall include:
(A) A description of the
child's progress in each subject area included in
the child's curriculum;§8-12-21
12-11
(B) Representative samples
of the child's work; and
(C) Representative tests
and assignments including grades for courses if
grades are given.
(c) When tests are
administered under the Statewide Testing Program for
grades three, five, eight, and ten, the parent may
choose to have the child participate in the school's
testing program and have the results serve as a
means of assessing annual progress for that year. (d) The principal shall
review the adequacy of a child's progress. If
progress is not adequate, the principal shall meet
with the parent to discuss the problems and help
establish a plan for improvement. In this case, the
principal may request and the parents shall share
their record of the child's planned curriculum. When
standardized test scores are used, 12-13
§8-12-21
12-12
adequate progress shall be
considered to be score/stanines in the upper two thirds of
the score/stanines. Unless progress is inadequate for two
consecutive semesters, based on a child's scores on a
norm-referenced test for that grade level or the written
evaluation by a person certified to teach in the State of
Hawaii, recommendations to enroll the child in a public or
private school or to take legal action for educational
neglect shall be prohibited. No recommendations shall be
made for a child before the third grade. [Eff. 11/7/91; am
and comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS §§302A-1112,
302A-1132) (Imp: HRS §302A-1132)
§8-12-19 Instructional
personnel of home-schooled children. A parent teaching
the parent's child at home shall be deemed a qualified
instructor. [Eff. 11/7/91; comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS
§§302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS §302A-1132)
§8-12-20 Credits. No
course credits (Carnegie units) are granted for time spent
being home-schooled. [Eff. 11/7/91; comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS
§§302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS §302A-1132)
§8-12-21 High school diploma
for home-schooled children. (a) A home-schooled child
who wants to earn a high school diploma from the local
public high school shall attend high school for a minimum of
three full years and meet the credit requirements for
graduation. §8-12-21
12-12
Satisfactory performance on the
Hawaii State Test of Essential Competencies (HSTEC) is also
required. (b) A home-schooled child who wants
to earn a high school diploma from the community school for
adults shall meet the following requirements: (1) Be at least sixteen years of
age, except in the case of emancipated minors; (2) Have been home-schooled for at
least one semester under Hawaii's home-schooling procedures;
and (3) Take and achieve a satisfactory
score on the General Educational Development (GED) test. The diploma shall be awarded by the
community school for adults. [Eff. 11/7/91; am and comp
5/13/00] (Auth: HRS §§302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS
§302A-1132)§8-12-22
12-13
§8-12-22 College entrance
examination and home-schooled children. A child who is
being home schooled may participate in any college entrance
examination which is made available to all other students.
The principal of the local public high school shall, upon
request, supply written acknowledgement that a child has
been home schooled in compliance with the requirements of
this chapter.” [Eff. 11/7/91; comp 5/13/00] (Auth:
HRS §§302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS §302A-1132)
