IHBG: HOME SCHOOLING
Parents/guardians who wish to have their children fulfill the compulsory school attendance law through equivalent education by home schooling must comply with the provisions of 20-A MRSA § 5001-A(3)(A)(4).
The requirements for the Notice of Intent to Provide Home Instruction and Subsequent Year Letter must be completed via the Maine Department of Education Home Instruction Portal, or by submitting a paper form that contains the required information. Parents that do not submit all of the required information to the Maine Department of Education will be notified and given 30 days to supply the missing information, after which the submission will be returned, unfiled, and the student will be considered truant. One submission of a home instruction Notice serves as notification to both the Maine Department of Education and the resident Superintendent, as required by law, and will prompt an acknowledgment to parents who supply a valid email address. A school year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30.
The parent/guardian who is beginning home instruction for a student for the first time must file a Notice of Intent to Provide Home Instruction within 10 days of withdrawal from school.
Each year thereafter, a Notice of Intent to Provide Home Instruction (with prior year assessment results) must be filed by September 1.
The notice must contain the following information:
-The name, signature and address of the student’s parent/guardian;
-The name and age of the student;
-The date the home instruction program will begin;
-A statement of assurance that indicates the home instruction program will provide at least 175 days annually of instruction and will provide instruction in: English and language arts, math, science, social studies, physical education, health education, library skills, fine arts, and, in at least one grade from grade 6 to 12, Maine studies. At one grade level from grade 7 to 12, the student will demonstrate proficiency in the use of computers; and
-A statement of assurance that indicates that the home instruction program will include an annual assessment of the student’s academic progress that includes at least one of the forms of assessment described in 20-A MRSA § 5001-A(3)(A)(4)(b) and paragraph B below. A copy of one of the following forms of annual assessment of the student’s academic progress is required on or before September 1st:
-A standardized achievement test administered through the administrative unit in which the student resides or through other arrangements approved by the Commissioner. If the test is administered through the administrative unit in which the student resides, that administration must be agreed to by the Superintendent of the administrative unit prior to submission of the written notice of intent to provide home instruction;
-A test developed by the Superintendent/designee of the administrative unit in which the student resides appropriate to the student’s home instruction program, which must be agreed to by the Superintendent of the administrative unit prior to submission of the written notice of intent to provide home instruction;
-A review and acceptance of the student’s progress by an identified individual who holds a current Maine teacher’s certificate;
-A review and acceptance of the student’s progress based on, but not limited to, a presentation of an educational portfolio of the student to a local area home schooling support group whose membership for this purpose includes a currently certified Maine teacher or administrator; or
-A review and acceptance of the student’s progress by a local committee in which the student resides that includes one administrative unit employee and two home instruction tutors. A “home instruction tutor” means the parent/guardian or other person who acts or will act as a primary teacher of the student in the home instruction program. This provision must be agreed to by the Superintendent of the administrative unit in which the student resides prior to submission of the written notice of intent to provide home instruction.
Parent/Guardian Instructions
Prior to submission ensure that copies of any prior year required assessments (parents must submit for subsequent year students) are available for mailing or delivery, or scanned for upload if using the Home Instruction Portal input option.
The updated process will allow parents to provide first/subsequent year notice “simultaneously to the school officials of the administrative unit in which the student resides and to the commissioner” in one of three ways:
1. Enter information once annually directly on the Home Instruction Portal, uploading any required prior year assessment information;
2. Complete the paper form or other form/letter once annually and mail it or drop it off, with any required prior year assessments, to the Department of Education Office in Augusta.
Parents who supply a valid email address will receive from the Maine Department of Education an email acknowledgement.
One submission process for both first/subsequent year of home instruction link below:
https://neo.maine.gov/doe/neo/StudentData/HomeSchools/Schools/Index
The Superintendent shall maintain a roster of all students eligible to attend school within the school unit who are receiving equivalent instruction, as provided in Department of Education rules.
Adopted: May 2, 1989
Revised: July 5, 1994; September 4, 2012; December 1, 2020
Cross Reference:
JEA – Compulsory School Attendance
IHBGA – Home Schooling—Participation in School Programs
IHBGB – Special Education Services for Students in Private Schools or Home Schooling
JGAB – Assignment of Students to Classes: Transfer Students and Home-Schooling Students
Legal Reference:
20-A MRSA§ 5001-A
Ch. 125§ 12.02, Ch. 130 (Maine Dept. of Education Rules)