Due to ambiguity in the law, several issues have arisen across the state since the passage of the Homeschool Freedom Act and the Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act. In an effort to assist families and school districts in navigating the current situation, I am sharing the following information related to traditional homeschool and Education Savings Account (ESA) students:
Homeschool and ESA Participation in Middle/Junior High Activities
Analysis
It is clear under current Wyoming law (W.S. 21-4-506) that homeschool and ESA students have a right to participate in WHSAA-sanctioned high school activities, subject to the same cost/fee requirements as district-enrolled students. However, it is unclear whether those same students have a right to participate in middle/junior high school activities. Traditionally, in Wyoming, school districts have allowed these students to participate in middle/junior high activities. However, this custom is now reportedly being scrutinized by school districts.
Next Steps
To provide clarity on this issue, I will be working with the legislature to pass a law in the next session that provides these students with the right to participate in middle/junior high activities that directly correspond to high school activities sanctioned by the WHSAA. Such language already exists in the Wyoming Department of Education’s Chapter 20 Transportation rules. For example, since WHSAA sanctions high school football, middle/junior high school football is also reimbursed for travel.
I strongly encourage school districts to do so, not only because it is what is best for the child, but doing so will avoid unnecessary disruptions while the lawmaking process progresses over the next year.
Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act Age Requirements
Analysis
For the pre-K portion of the Act, the eligibility requirement is that the child is not less than four (4) years of age as of August 1 of the year in which the application for an ESA is made and has not yet attained the age to attend public school in this state.
For the K-12 portion of the Act, the eligibility requirement is that the child has not graduated from high school or received a high school equivalency certificate and is eligible to attend a public school in this state.
To be eligible to attend a public school, a child may register in kindergarten in the year in which his fifth birthday falls on or before August 1, or September 15 if pursuant to an approved request by a local school district under W.S. 21-3-110(a)(xxxviii).
Next Steps
I will be working with the legislature to pass a law next session that allows ESA service providers, rather than school districts, to approve requests for students whose fifth birthday falls on or before September 15th. This will provide them with the same opportunity that school districts have to evaluate enrollees past the August 1st cutoff. In the meantime, I urge school districts to review age eligibility requests for ESA students, not only because it is what is best for the child, but doing so will avoid unnecessary disruptions while the lawmaking process progresses over the next year.
Withdrawal Notification to School Districts
Analysis
The Homeschool Freedom Act repealed the requirement that homeschool families submit their curricula to their local school district. However, it did not amend W.S. 21-4-102(c), which states “the parent, guardian or other person having control or charge of any child under the age of eighteen (18), who has not otherwise notified the district of enrolling that child in a different school district or in a private school or home-based educational program, shall meet in person with a school district counselor or administrator to provide the school district with written consent to the withdrawal of that child from school attendance.”
Therefore, if a student has been enrolled in a public school district, parents must notify the school district upon withdrawal from that school district. However, there is no legal requirement for a student who has never enrolled in a public school district to report to the district.
It is worth noting that related to this notification statute is W.S. 21-4-106, which states, “at the beginning of each school year, the board of trustees shall furnish each district attendance officer a list of the names of the children of compulsory school age within the district who are enumerated on the regular enumeration lists.”
Next Steps
To provide clarity on this issue, I will be working with the legislature to pass a law next session that clarifies the responsibilities of parents and school districts related to the reporting of withdrawal and attendance officer lists. In the meantime, I encourage school districts to be cognizant of the privacy of homeschool families and limit their communication as we work to correct legal obligations inherent in these overlapping laws.
Participation in Classes at a Public School
Analysis
In the past, it was customary across the state for school districts to allow homeschool students residing in their district to take classes in their schools, particularly as school districts are reimbursed for the cost by the state. To our knowledge, no student has ever been denied partial enrollment. However, this custom is now reportedly being scrutinized by school districts.
W.S. 21-4-301(a) requires that public schools be, “at all times,” equally “free and accessible” to all students above the age of 5. This includes non-ESA homeschool students, but the law does not specifically differentiate between non-ESA students who enroll full time and those taking only individual classes.
A family that has chosen to participate in the ESA program cannot also enroll in a public school district. Instead, that family may negotiate with a school district.
Next Steps
I will be working with the legislature and the Attorney General’s office because this topic raises a constitutional question related to the right to a public education in Wyoming. In the meantime, continuing the past practice of allowing partial enrollment is not only what is best for the child, but the school district will receive funding for doing so, and it will avoid unnecessary disruptions while the lawmaking process progresses over the next year.
