Dear Senator,
I am writing to you to clarify a misunderstanding that I
have had about the current home education law, RSA 193-A:5 I. I have come
to realize that the following sentence:
Subject to the provisions of RSA 193-A:7, I, the
commissioner of education shall acknowledge in writing that the parent shall be
permitted to initiate a home education program for a child enrolled in a public
or nonpublic school if the program meets the minimum definitional and
educational requirements as provided in RSA 193-A:4, I and paragraph II of this
section.
is wording that was left behind when RSA 193-A:5 was
ammended back in August 9,1996.
This is what is written in this section in the current law:
193-A:5 Notification and Other Procedural Requirements. –
A parent may provide home education to a child or children at home, subject to
the following requirements:
I. Any parent commencing a home education program for a
child, for a child who withdraws from a public school, or for a child who moves
into a school district shall notify the commissioner of education, resident
district superintendent, or principal of a nonpublic school of such within 30
days. Subject to the provisions of RSA 193-A:7, I, the commissioner of
education shall acknowledge in writing that the parent shall be permitted to
initiate a home education program for a child enrolled in a public or nonpublic
school if the program meets the minimum definitional and educational
requirements as provided in RSA 193-A:4, I and paragraph II of this section.
This, as I have reconstructed it from an old copy, was what was in this section
prior to August 9, 1996:
193-A:5 Notification and Other Procedural Requirements. A
parent may provide home education to a child or children at home, subject to
the following requirements:
I. The parent shall notify, by August 1 of each year, the
commissioner of education, resident district superintendent, or principal of a
nonpublic school of his intention to provide home education. Said
superintendent or principal shall provide notification of such intention to the
department of education. Any parent desiring to provide home education
who moves into a school district after August 1 shall immediately notify the
commissioner of education of his intent to educate a child at home and shall
comply with the requirements of this section within 30 days of such
notice. Subject to the provisions of RSA 193-A:7, I, the commisioner of
education shall acknowledge in writing that the parent shall be permitted to
initiate a home education program for a child enrolled in a public or nonpublic
school if the program meets the minimum definitional and educational
requirements as provided in RSA 193-A:4, I and paragraph II of this section.
As you can see, this paragraph was drastically changed in August 1996.
However, that last sentence...Subject to the provisions of RSA 193-A:7, I...was
never removed. It should have been removed because it dealt with the case
when notification had to be done by August 1st of each year (no longer a
requirement), and the specific case of a family moving into a school
district after August 1st, and it was to be done through the commissioner of
education only. Notice that in the old law, a parent had a choice of
which participating agency to use if they notified by August 1st, but only
could use the commissioner of education if they were notifying after August
1st.
Unfortunately, this sentence, which should have been removed and never was when
the law was amended in August 1996, has caused major confusion in the writing
of the Amendment to HB406.
I'm sorry if I contributed to the confusion of this sentence in my last emails,
but since this information has been brought to my attention, I thought it wise
to bring it to your attention as well.
Respectfully,
Christine Mukai
Amherst NH