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COLORADO
Compulsory Attendance Ages: “Every child who has attained the age of six
years on or before August 1 of each year and is under the age of seventeen
years.” Colorado Revised Statutes § 22-33-104(1)(a). The compulsory attendance
age for those who are homeschooling under the Home School Statute (Option 1) is
only from age 7 to 16. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 22-33-104.5(3)(e).
Required Days of Instruction: 172 days, averaging four hours per day. Colo. Rev.
Stat. § 22-33-104.5 (3) (c).
Required Subjects: Including, but not limited to, Constitution of the United
States, reading, writing, speaking, math, history, civics, literature, and
science. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 22-33-104.5 (3)(d).
Home schools have three options:
Home School Statute: Colo. Rev. Stat. § 22-33-104.5.
Option 1: “It is the primary right and obligation of the parent to choose the
proper education and training for children under his care and supervision. It is
recognized that home-based education is a legitimate alternative to classroom
attendance for the instruction of children and that any regulation of non-public
home-based educational programs should be sufficiently flexible to accommodate a
variety of circumstances. The General Assembly further declares that non-public
home-based educational programs shall be subject only to minimum state controls
which are currently applicable to other forms of non-public education.” Colo.
Rev. Stat. § 22-33-104.5(1).
a. Instruction in a non-public home-based educational program may be provided by
a parent, guardian, or an adult relative designated by a parent. Colo. Rev.
Stat. § 22-33-104.5(2)(a) and (b).
b. A home school “is not intended to be and does not qualify as a private and
nonprofit school.” Colo. Rev. Stat § 22-33-104.5(2)(a).
c. Parents must give notice 14 days before starting home schooling and annually
thereafter. The parents have the choice to file the notice in any school
district in the state. A parent who intends to establish a nonpublic home-based
educational program is not required to establish nor to provide written
notification of this program to a school district within the state until the
parent's child is seven years of age, nor is the parent required to continue the
program or provide the notification after the child is sixteen years of age.
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 22-33-104.5(3)(e).
d. The notice must include names, ages, residence, and hours of attendance of
children taught. There is no requirement to use the local school district’s
forms.
e. Parents must keep records of attendance, test and evaluation results, and
immunization records which the school district which has the original notice of
intent may see with fourteen days’ notice if the superintendent “has probable
cause to believe” the home school program is not in compliance with the law.
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 22-33-104.5(3)(g).
Alternative Statutes Allowing for Home Schools:
Option 2: Parents can enroll their children in a Colorado “independent
school” but teach them at home. The case, People in Interest of D.B., 767 P.2d
801 (Colo. App. 1988), held that, according to Colo. Rev. Stat. §
22-33-104(2)(b), children “enrolled in” (changed from the word “attending” in
1983) an independent or parochial school that provides a basic academic
education can be allowed by that school to be taught at home.
a. In the D.B. case, the Court of Appeals stated: “Since the district has not
challenged the adequacy of the education provided by the academy, the matter of
the sufficiency of the children’s attendance is between them [the home
schoolers] and the independent school in which they are enrolled.” 767 P.2d at
802. In other words, once parents enroll their children in a Colorado
independent school, they are exempt from the compulsory attendance law and the
home school law, and can still teach their children at home. Registration with
the public school is not required. No testing or evaluation is mandated.
b. Under this option, parents can establish an independent school by keeping
minimal records, and provide instruction in the required subjects. The
independent school must be comprised of at least two home school families.
c. The administrator can be one of the parents. The teachers are the parents,
and all teaching is done in separate campus sites in each home.
Option 3: If a home schooling parent or other person is certified in Colorado
to teach, the home school in which they are providing instruction is exempt from
all other requirements, including testing. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 22-33-104(2)(i).
Teacher Qualifications: None, unless a child is taught by a private tutor, who
must be certified.
Standardized Tests: Children complying with the home school law, must do one of
the following:
I. Testing Option: Be tested with any national standardized achievement test for
“grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11.” [Colo. Rev. Stat. § 22-33-104.5(3)(f)]. “The test
results shall be submitted to the district in which the initial notice is filed
or an independent or parochial school within the state of Colorado.” If the test
or evaluation results are submitted to an independent or parochial school, the
name of such school shall be provided to the local school district of residence.
If test results show “a composite score ... above the thirteenth percentile,”
the child will continue to be exempt from compulsory public school attendance
requirements. § 22-33-104.5(5)(a). If the child scores below the thirteenth
percentile, the private school must notify the public school. Then the child
will have a chance to be retested “using an alternative version of the same test
or a different nationally standardized achievement test selected by the parent
from a list of approved tests.” Colo. Rev. Stat. § 22-33-104.5(5)(b).
or
II. Evaluation Option: Be evaluated by a “qualified person” who is “selected by
the parent” and is a Colorado certified teacher or a teacher employed by a
private school or a licensed psychologist or a person with a graduate degree in
education. The evaluation must “show that the child is making sufficient
academic progress according to the child’s ability” for grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and
11. Evaluations can be sent to either the public or private school.
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