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Washington
Home Schooling - State Laws &
Regulations
Please Note This Important
Notice:
Washington
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.
(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.
RCW 28A.200.010
Home-based instruction -- Duties of parents.
Each parent whose child is receiving home-based
instruction under RCW 28A.225.010(4) shall have the duty to:
(1) 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 15 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;
(2) 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
(3) 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 mastery pursuant to *RCW
28A.630.885.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.
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).
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.
