|
| |
INDIANA
Compulsory Attendance Ages:
Beginning in fall of school year in which child turns 7
(or when child enrolls in a school, if earlier, or on 7 th
birthday if parent certifies they intend to enroll child
in nonaccredited private school) until child turns 18, or graduates. West's
Annotated Indiana Code § 20-33-2-6.
Required Days of Instruction: "for the number of days public
schools are in session in the school corporation in which the child is enrolled
in Indiana." West’s Annotated Code § 20-33-2-5. Generally, 180 days.
Required Subjects: "A school that is nonpublic,
non-accredited, and not otherwise approved by the Indiana State Board of
Education is not bound by any requirements set forth in IC 20 or IC 21 with
regard to curriculum or the content of educational programs offered by the
school." (§ 20-33-2-12 (a))
Home School Statute: None.
Alternative Statutes Allowing for Home
Schools: Ind. Code Ann. § 20-33-2-4(2). A child
may attend "another school which is taught in the English language."
- The Indiana Appellate Court held that the Indiana
compulsory attendance law allows the operation of home schools. State v.
Peterman, 32 Ind. App. 665, 70 N.E. 550 (1904). Essentially, the Court
said a school at home is a private school.
The Court defined a school as "a place
where instruction is imparted to the young..... We do not think that the
number of persons, whether one or many, make a place where instruction is
imparted any less or any more a school."
Peterman, at 551. The court explained further: "Under a law very similar
to ours, the Supreme Court of Massachusetts has held that the object and
purpose of a compulsory educational law are that all the children shall be
educated, not that they shall be educated in any particular way."
Peterman, at 551.
The Court concluded; "The result to be
obtained, and not the means or manner of attaining it, was the goal which
the lawmakers were attempting to reach. The [compulsory attendance] law was
made for the parent who does not educate his child, and not for the parent
who … so places within the reach of the child the opportunity and means of
acquiring an education equal to that obtainable in the public schools...."
Peterman, at 552.
- In Mazanec v. North Judson-San Pierre School
Corporation, 614 F. Supp. 1152 (N.D. Ind. 1985), (aff’d by 798 F.2d
230), a federal district court recognized that parents have the
constitutional right to educate their children in a home environment (at
page 1160). The court wrote concerning the qualifications of home school
parents that, "it is now doubtful that the requirements of a formally
licensed or certified teacher … would pass constitutional muster." (at p.
1160). On appeal, the circuit court ruled that a school corporation is not
immune from a 1983 action for improper enforcement of compulsory attendance.
- Parents must keep attendance records, Ind. Code
Ann. § 20-33-2-20, "solely to verify the enrollment and attendance of the
particular child upon request of the state superintendent … or the
superintendent of the school corporation in which the private school is
located."
- A private school administrator shall furnish, on
request of the state superintendent of public instruction, the number of
children by grade level attending the school. § 20-33-2-21(b). This request
must be to the individual private school, not merely a blanket announcement
to the public at large. Indiana Public School officials frequently request
that parents seeking to homeschool their children complete an online
"enrollment" form on the Indiana Department of Education website. This
enrollment is not required under state law and entirely voluntary.
- Although the child must be "provided with
instruction equivalent to that given in public schools" (§ 20-33-2-28), the
State Board of Education is not given the authority to define "equivalent
instruction" nor to approve home schools. Furthermore, § 20-33-2-12(a) has
removed all subject requirements, leaving home schools without any mandatory
subjects.
Teacher Qualifications: None.
Standardized Tests: Not required.
|