Withdrawing child from public school? What do I need? Texas

[HarperRose]

Does anyone know how to go about withdrawing a kid in the middle of the school year to home school? I live in TX. I thought I needed a letter of some sort when I withdrew my son in Kinder, but he's back in public school now (a better one!) and it's been a few years. Now I'm going to hs my dd but I don't remember how I found any of that info.

[1stTimeMummytoLore]

You are not required to do anything, but it is strongly recommended that you send a letter to the principle of your child's current school to notify them as to why your child is no longer showing up at their school. This avoids any complications like them thinking your child is delinquent and investigating. IMHO, I think it's just polite. The principle or superintendant cannot require you to turn in any other paperwork or comply with any other requirements, although occassionally some try or think they can do so.

You can always check the HSLDA or THSC websites to read the fine print yourself.

[HarperRose]

Ok. I intended to email the principal and teacher anyway. Thanks!

I haven't found anything on the hsld site, either.

I recently came across the hs stuff I had for ds. It was given to me by the school district we had ds enrolled in. (As I said, we're in a new, better district now.) It reads:

Home Schooling Verification
2005-2006

Name of Student ______________________ SS#______________
Grade ___________________ Age__________ DOB______________

This is to verify that our child named above is receiving home schooling instead of public schooling.

The curriculum we are using is designed to meet basic education goals including reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics, and a study of good citizenship.

I understand that in the event my child re-enters public school he/she may be tested and may be placed at the level if performance as indicated by results of testing.

___________________________
Parent/Guardian Signature
____________________________
Date

Is there any reason I need to sign one of these if I get one? I am fully capable of coming up with my own curriculum, thank you. Yk? It's a really snarky-sounding letter, imo.

[alegna]

That's just the legal wording for the TX law. You can write your own that says that if you'd like.

Most schools have a withdrawal paper of some sort. Do that. and under whatever they have for new school, put homeschooling.

-Angela

[alatexan68]

Personally I wouldn't sign anything that a school district in Texas sent me. I would go to hslda.org and print out the laws for Texas, which are really simple. I would send a letter to the school district with the laws attached, return reciept requested..... stating that I am removing my child and will homeschool in the future.

The only reason I would do this much, although it isn't required. Some school districts will try to get you for truancy..... and still collect funds for your child being in school. So if you ever end up in court, you will have proof that you did send a letter when disenrolling your child.

HTH.

[HarperRose]

Ok. Good thoughts. Thanks.

My sil found this:

http://www.thsc.org/Getting_Started/...Withdrawal.asp

[muttix2]

When my mom and I went to my sister's high school to withdraw her we just walked in and withdrew. The secretary was really snarky and tried to intimidate us (and it would have worked if my mom went alone, which is why I went along) and the principal said we "had" to talk to him. Instead I spoke up and told them that we weren't required to do anything by law (saying the word "law" in a public school scares them witless and stops the scare tactics). My sister returned the stuff belonging to the school and we went about our way. If my kids were in school, I'd probably do the same but include a letter of intent this time. Just a simple, "I, ___, am pulling my child, ___, out to homeschool" letter.

[alatexan68]

LOL the only reason I would do even that much, is because Texas is a good ole boy state.... and alot of the school districts don't know the law. So I would rather educate them, then fight it out in court later. With a Return Reciept Requested notice, you can prove you notified them.

That of just pull your child out and join the HSLDA if anything comes up.
\