Homeschooling in FL

Florida Homeschooling Laws

Homeschooling in FL

Are you thinking about homeschooling? Do you live in FL?  If so, you’ll really need to know the following:

1. information about homeschooling
2. who you can turn in FL for invaluable information and advice
3. the basic homeschooling laws and regulations in FL

We can help you on all three fronts!

We’ve included some helpful links below, about homeschooling in general.  We’ve also included valuable state-specific information, including links to state homeschooling organizations and to the Florida Department of Education.  For even more local info, we suggest you google for local homeschool support groups in your area. Finally, we’ve included actual FL state homeschooling statutes, as we recommend that you read and understand this information.

Ready to get started?

Here is some general homeschooling info that you might find to be helpful

 

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Homeschooling in FL – Additional Helpful info:

From the Florida Parent-Educators Association – Home Education Requirements, Free Resources, and the Home Education Statute

The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) provides info on Florida Home School Laws. HSLDA will ask you for your e-mail address

The Florida Department of Education provides Home Education General Info, and Home Education FAQs

Pertinent FL Homeschooling Laws/Statutes:

1002.01 Definitions (pertaining to homeschooling in FL)

(1) A “home education program” means the sequentially progressive instruction of a student directed by his or her parent in order to satisfy the attendance requirements of ss. 1002.41,1003.01(13), and 1003.21(1).
(2) A “private school” is a nonpublic school defined as an individual, association, co-partnership, or corporation, or department, division, or section of such organizations, that designates itself as an educational center that includes kindergarten or a higher grade or as an elementary, secondary, business, technical, or trade school below college level or any organization that provides instructional services that meet the intent of s. 1003.01(13) or that gives pre-employment or supplementary training in technology or in fields of trade or industry or that offers academic, literary, or career training below college level, or any combination of the above, including an institution that performs the functions of the above schools through correspondence or extension, except those licensed under the provisions of chapter 1005. A private school may be a parochial, religious, denominational, for-profit, or nonprofit school. This definition does not include home education programs conducted in accordance with s. 1002.41.

1003.01(13) (as pertaining to homeschooling in FL)

Regular school attendance” means the actual attendance of a student during the school day as defined by law and rules of the State Board of Education. Regular attendance within the intent of s. 1003.21 may be achieved by attendance in:
(a) A public school supported by public funds;
(b) A parochial, religious, or denominational school;
(c) A private school supported in whole or in part by tuition charges or by endowments or gifts;
(d) A home education program that meets the requirements of chapter 1002; or
(e) A private tutoring program that meets the requirements of chapter 1002.

1002.43 Private tutoring programs (as pertaining to homeschooling in FL)

(1) Regular school attendance as defined in s. 1003.01(13) may be achieved by attendance in a private tutoring program if the person tutoring the student meets the following requirements:
(a) Holds a valid Florida certificate to teach the subjects or grades in which instruction is given.
(b) Keeps all records and makes all reports required by the state and district school board and makes regular reports on the attendance of students in accordance with the provisions of s.1003.23(2).
(c) Requires students to be in actual attendance for the minimum length of time prescribed by s.1011.60(2).
(2) Private tutors shall keep and prepare records in accordance with the provisions of s.1003.23(2).

1003.21 School attendance (pertaining to homeschooling in FL)

(1)(a)1. All children who have attained the age of 6 years or who will have attained the age of 6 years by February 1 of any school year or who are older than 6 years of age but who have not attained the age of 16 years, except as otherwise provided, are required to attend school regularly during the entire school term.
(c) A student who attains the age of 16 years during the school year is not subject to compulsory school attendance beyond the date upon which he or she attains that age if the student files a formal declaration of intent to terminate school enrollment with the district school board. Public school students who have attained the age of 16 years and who have not graduated are subject to compulsory school attendance until the formal declaration of intent is filed with the district school board. For additional info regarding this statute, click here.

1002.41 Home education program (as pertaining to homeschooling in FL)

1002.41 (1) A “home education program” is defined in s. 1002.01. The parent is not required to hold a valid regular Florida teaching certificate.
(a) The parent shall notify the district school superintendent of the county in which the parent resides of her or his intent to establish and maintain a home education program. The notice shall be in writing, signed by the parent, and shall include the names, addresses, and birth dates of all children who shall be enrolled as students in the home education program. The notice shall be filed in the district school superintendent’s office within 30 days of the establishment of the home education program. A written notice of termination of the home education program shall be filed in the district school superintendent’s office within 30 days after said termination.

1002.41 Home education program – portfolio and records (as pertaining to homeschooling in FL)

(b) The parent shall maintain a portfolio of records and materials. The portfolio shall consist of the following:
1. A log of educational activities that is made contemporaneously with the instruction and that designates by title any reading materials used.
2. Samples of any writings, worksheets, workbooks, or creative materials used or developed by the student.
The portfolio shall be preserved by the parent for 2 years and shall be made available for inspection by the district school superintendent, or the district school superintendent’s agent, upon 15 days’ written notice. Nothing in this section shall require the district school superintendent to inspect the portfolio.

1002.41 Home education program – annual evaluation requirement (as pertaining to homeschooling in FL)

(c) The parent shall provide for an annual educational evaluation in which is documented the student’s demonstration of educational progress at a level commensurate with her or his ability. The parent shall select the method of evaluation and shall file a copy of the evaluation annually with the district school superintendent’s office in the county in which the student resides. The annual educational evaluation shall consist of one of the following:
1. A teacher selected by the parent shall evaluate the student’s educational progress upon review of the portfolio and discussion with the student. Such teacher shall hold a valid regular Florida certificate to teach academic subjects at the elementary or secondary level;
2. The student shall take any nationally normed student achievement test administered by a certified teacher;
3. The student shall take a state student assessment test used by the school district and administered by a certified teacher, at a location and under testing conditions approved by the school district;
4. The student shall be evaluated by an individual holding a valid, active license pursuant to the provisions of s. 490.003(7) or (8); or
5. The student shall be evaluated with any other valid measurement tool as mutually agreed upon by the district school superintendent of the district in which the student resides and the student’s parent.

1002.41 Home education program – annual evaluation, superintendent’s responsibility and possible probationary period

(2) The district school superintendent shall review and accept the results of the annual educational evaluation of the student in a home education program. If the student does not demonstrate educational progress at a level commensurate with her or his ability, the district school superintendent shall notify the parent, in writing, that such progress has not been achieved. The parent shall have 1 year from the date of receipt of the written notification to provide remedial instruction to the student. At the end of the 1-year probationary period, the student shall be reevaluated as specified in paragraph (1)(c). Continuation in a home education program shall be contingent upon the student demonstrating educational progress commensurate with her or his ability at the end of the probationary period.

1002.41 Home education programs (as pertaining to homeschooling in FL)

(3) A home education program shall be excluded from meeting the requirements of a school day.
(4) Home education students may participate in interscholastic extracurricular student activities in accordance with the provisions of s. 1006.15.
(5) Home education students may participate in the Bright Futures Scholarship Program in accordance with the provisions of ss. 1009.53–1009.539.
(6) Home education students may participate in dual enrollment programs in accordance with ss. 1007.27(4) and 1007.271(13).
(7) Home education students are eligible for admission to Florida College System institutions in accordance with the provisions of s. 1007.263.
(8) Home education students are eligible for admission to state universities in accordance with the policies and guidelines of the Board of Governors.
(9) Home education program students may receive testing and evaluation services at diagnostic and resource centers, in accordance with the provisions of s. 1006.03.

1006.03 Diagnostic and learning resource centers (as pertaining to homeschooling in FL)

(1) The department shall maintain regional diagnostic and learning resource centers for exceptional students, to assist in the provision of medical, physiological, psychological, and educational testing and other services designed to evaluate and diagnose exceptionalities, to make referrals for necessary instruction and services, and to facilitate the provision of instruction and services to exceptional students. The department shall cooperate with the Department of Children and Family Services in identifying service needs and areas.
(3) Diagnostic and resource centers may provide testing and evaluation services to private school students and other children who are not enrolled in public schools.

For 1006.15 student standards for participation in interscholastic extracurricular student activities, click here.  BTW, you might know section as the “Craig Dickinson Act.”

1007.271 Dual enrollment programs – definition and enrollment

(1) The dual enrollment program is the enrollment of an eligible secondary student or home education student in a post-secondary course creditable toward high school completion and a career certificate or an associate or baccalaureate degree. A student who is enrolled in post-secondary instruction that is not creditable toward a high school diploma may not be classified as a dual enrollment student.
(2) Students who are eligible for dual enrollment pursuant to this section may enroll in dual enrollment courses conducted during school hours, after school hours, and during the summer term. However, if the student is projected to graduate from high school before the scheduled completion date of a post-secondary course, the student may not register for that course through dual enrollment. The student may apply to the post-secondary institution and pay the required registration, tuition, and fees if the student meets the post-secondary institution’s admissions requirements under s.1007.263. Instructional time for dual enrollment may vary from 900 hours; however, the school district may only report the student for a maximum of 1.0 FTE, as provided in s. 1011.61.

1007.271 Dual enrollment programs – eligibility

(3) Student eligibility requirements for initial enrollment in college credit dual enrollment courses must include a 3.0 unweighted high school grade point average and the minimum score on a common placement test adopted by the State Board of Education which indicates that the student is ready for college-level coursework. Student eligibility requirements for continued enrollment in college credit dual enrollment courses must include the maintenance of a 3.0 unweighted high school grade point average and the minimum post-secondary grade point average established by the post-secondary institution. Regardless of meeting student eligibility requirements for continued enrollment, a student may lose the opportunity to participate in a dual enrollment course if the student is disruptive to the learning process such that the progress of other students or the efficient administration of the course is hindered. For additional info regarding this statute, click here.

1007.271 Dual enrollment programs – exemptions and exclusions (homeschooling in FL)

(4). Any student enrolled as a dual enrollment student is exempt from the payment of registration, tuition, and laboratory fees. Vocational-preparatory instruction, college-preparatory instruction, and other forms of pre-collegiate instruction, as well as physical education courses that focus on the physical execution of a skill rather than the intellectual attributes of the activity, are ineligible for inclusion in the dual enrollment program. Recreation and leisure studies courses shall be evaluated individually in the same manner as physical education courses for potential inclusion in the program.

1007.271 Dual enrollment programs – student requirements

(13)(a) The dual enrollment program for home education students consists of the enrollment of an eligible home education secondary student in a post-secondary course creditable toward an associate degree, a career certificate, or a baccalaureate degree. To participate in the dual enrollment program, an eligible home education secondary student must:
1. Provide proof of enrollment in a home education program pursuant to s. 1002.41.
2. Be responsible for his or her own instructional materials and transportation unless provided for otherwise.
3. Sign a home education articulation agreement pursuant to paragraph (b).

1007.271 Dual enrollment programs – institution requirements

(b)   Each post-secondary institution shall enter into a home education articulation agreement with each home education student seeking enrollment in a dual enrollment course and the student’s parent. The home education articulation agreement shall include, at a minimum:
1. A delineation of courses and programs available to dually enrolled home education students.  Courses and programs may be added, revised, or deleted at any time by the post-secondary institution.
2. The initial and continued eligibility requirements for home education student participation, not to exceed those required of other dually enrolled students.
3. The student’s responsibilities for providing his or her own instructional materials and transportation.
4. A copy of the statement on transfer guarantees developed by the Department of Education under subsection (15)

For 1003.43 General requirements for high school graduation, click here.

You can locate statute 1007.261 State universities; admissions of students, here.

For 1007.263 Community colleges; admissions of students, click here.

You can find Florida state statutes pertaining to articulated acceleration mechanisms here (statute 1007.27).

Homeschooling Laws FL – In conclusion

Although FL has quite a few regulations, the state also has a TON of homeschoolers.  As a result, you’ll probably meet homeschoolers in your immediate area. This will make homeschooling in FL so much easier, because you’ll have other homeschoolers to talk to, ask questions of, etc.

Good luck. Homeschooling in FL will be an exciting and wonderful adventure!

 

 

 

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