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LOUISIANA
Compulsory Attendance Ages: From the child’s “7th birthday until his 18th
birthday.” West’s Louisiana Revised Statutes Annotated § 17:221(A).
Required Days of Instruction: 180 days. La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 17:236.
Required Subjects: A “curriculum of a quality at least equal to that offered
by public schools at the same grade level,” La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 17:236,
including the Declaration of Independence (elementary) and the Federalist Papers
(high school). La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 17:268.
Home Schoolers have two options:
Option 1: Home School Statute. La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 17:236. “[A] child who
participates in a home study program approved by the Board of Elementary and
Secondary Education” is exempt from the compulsory attendance law. To qualify,
homeschool parents must comply with the following:
1. Parents must apply to the Board of Education for approval of the home study
program within fifteen days after commencement. La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §
17:236.1(A).
2. “The initial application…or renewal application, shall be approved if the
parent certifies that the home study program will offer a sustained curriculum
of quality at least equal to that offered by public schools.” La. Rev. Stat.
Ann. § 17:236.1(B). The initial application must include a certified copy of the
child’s birth certificate This, however, is not required for the renewal.
3. A renewal application must be submitted by Oct. 1 of the school year or
twelve months after initial approval, whichever is later. La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §
17:236.1(A).
4. A renewal application “shall be approved” if the parents submit “satisfactory
evidence that the program has in fact offered a sustained curriculum of quality
at least equal to that offered by public schools at the same grade level.”
Parents must submit “with the renewal application a packet of materials which
includes such documents as”: (a) a complete outline of each subject taught, (b)
a list of books and materials, (c) copies of the student’s work, (d) copies of
standardized tests, (e) statements of third parties who have observed the
child’s progress. La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 17:236.1(C)(1)(emph. added).
5. The phrase “shall be approved” removes the board’s arbitrary discretion in
the approval process.
6. Homeschool students who enroll in a home study program no later than the end
of 10th grade may be eligible for a Louisiana Taylor Opportunity Program for
Students (TOPS) award. Home study students could be eligible for the following
awards based on a minimum ACT score of: TOPS Tech – 19; TOPS Opportunity – 22;
TOPS Performance – 24; TOPS Honors – 28.
Option 2: Alternate Statute. La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 17:236 (Home-based Private
Schools)
1. A homeschool can operate as a private school in lieu of the above, if it
meets the following requirements:
a. has an “adequate physical plant” (i.e., a home);
b. has “instructional staff members” (i.e., parents);
c. operates 180 days;
d. receives no Federal or State funds, “either directly or indirectly;”
e. “shall meet such requirements as prescribed by the school or the church;” and
f. meets the definition of school: “an institution for the teaching of
children.” The Department of Education unofficially recognizes that homeschools
fit this definition and accepts annual reports from home-based private schools.
2. Such home-based private schools which receive no local, state, or federal
funds must “report to the state Department of Education their total attendance
as of the 30th day of their school term...” La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 17:232(c).
3. Students who are withdrawn from public school during the school year, or who
attended public school the year before enrolling in a private school, must
provide a written notification of enrollment to the public school he attended
within 10 days of enrollment. This notification must include:
a. Student’s legal name;
b. Date of birth;
c. Gender; and
d. Race.
In addition, the notification may include a request for the student’s
transcript. La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 17:221.3.
Teacher Qualifications: None.
Standardized Tests: Parents have three options which only apply if the
homeschool is operating under the home study law (Option 1 above). La. Rev.
Stat. Ann. § 17:236.1(D).
A renewal application “shall be approved” if (in lieu of submitting the
materials mentioned above):
1. child receives passing score on the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program
(LEAP) test;
2. or the child scored at or above his grade level on a California Achievement
Test or other standardized test approved by the board or has “progressed at a
rate equal to one grade level for each year in [the] home study program;”
3. or a teacher certified to teach at the child’s grade level writes a statement
that the child “is being taught in accordance with a sustained curriculum of
quality at least equal to public schools” or “at least equal to that offered by
public schools to a child of similar disabilities.”
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