Minnesota law allows children to attend homeschools and parents to provide instruction

Minnesota’s compulsory attendance law requires children between 7 and 16 to attend school, statutorily defined as a public school, nonpublic school, church or religious organization, or homeschool. Under state law, school instructors must: hold a valid Minnesota teaching license in the field and for the grade level taught; be directly supervised by a licensed teacher; successfully complete a teacher competency exam; provide instruction in an accredited or recognized school; hold a baccalaureate degree; or be the parent of a child who annually is assessed using a nationally norm-referenced standardized achievement exam approved by the district superintendent. 

State education department data show that 16,934 students, or about 1.8 percent of the total elementary and secondary student population, were enrolled in a homeschool in the 2004-2005 school year.

Parent educators must provide instruction in required subject areas and must report on student achievement

Homeschool parents must provide instruction in reading, writing, literature, fine arts, math, science, history, geography, government, health, and physical education.  There is no minimum number of required days of instruction. Every year, by October 1, parent instructors must report the following information to the district superintendent: the name, birth date, and address of each child receiving instruction at home; the name of the child’s instructor and evidence that the instructor satisfies one of the state’s criteria for instructors; and an annual instructional calendar.   

Parent instructors who assess a child using a nationally norm-referenced standardized achievement exam must submit a quarterly report card on the child’s achievement in each required subject area. (Homeschool advocates assert that parent instructors are not required to submit a child’s test scores as part of the quarterly report card.) A parent instructor must document that the child is receiving instruction in the required subject areas. The documents must include class schedules and copies of instructional materials, and describe the methods used to assess student achievement. Parent instructors also must submit a statement indicating that their children have been immunized or a notarized statement indicating that their children have not been immunized due to the parents’ conscientiously held beliefs. 

Parent instructors must assess home school students using a standardized achievement exam

Children attending a homeschool that is not accredited must be assessed using a nationally norm-referenced standardized achievement exam.  A parent instructor who is not a licensed teacher or has not successfully completed a teacher competency exam must assess children in those required subject areas for which no standardized achievement exam is available. 

A parent instructor must obtain an evaluation of a child who scores below the 30th percentile or one grade level below children of the same age on a standardized achievement exam to determine whether the child has learning problems. 

Homeschool students may receive health and guidance services

School districts must provide homeschool students with the same health services offered to public school students as long as the cost does not exceed the amount the state education department allocates for such services. School districts also must provide homeschool students in grades 7 to 12 with the same guidance and counseling services offered to public school students as long as the cost does not exceed the amount the state education department allocates for such services and the services are provided at a public school or neutral site.

Homeschool students may participate in the postsecondary enrollment options and on-line learning programs

High school juniors and seniors, including homeschool students, may take courses for credit at public and private Minnesota postsecondary institutions under the Postsecondary Enrollment Options Program (PSEO).  Homeschool students interested in enrolling in a PSEO course must contact the institution offering the course.  PSEO students do not pay tuition, fees, or the cost of required textbooks.   

K-12 homeschool students may enroll in an on-line learning course or program.  Participation is limited by available revenue and order of application. 

Homeschool students may participate in extracurricular activities

Homeschool students may participate in the extracurricular activities of the resident district on the same basis as public school students. A school board may charge students fees to participate in extracurricular activities. Homeschools also may participate in Minnesota state high school league activities and sometimes form cooperative sponsorships with other schools to participate in such activities.

Parent instructors may be eligible for reimbursement of expenses and the state’s K-12 education credit and deduction

Homeschool parent instructors are eligible to be reimbursed by the resident school district for instructional materials; reimbursed items are considered district property. 

Parent instructors whose household income is less than $37,500 and who have paid qualifying expenses for their children’s K-12 education may be eligible for the state’s K-12 education credit and deduction; those parent instructors whose household income is $37,500 or higher may qualify for the deduction only.  The credit and deduction apply to homeschool education expenses that would be expenses for subjects normally taught in public elementary and secondary schools.  Such expenses may include required instructional materials, required books, class trips taken during the school day, purchase or rental of required equipment, after school enrichment programs, required testing fees, computer hardware, and educational software and tuition and fees.

Homeschool student information is private data

Under the state’s data practices law, student information that a parent instructor submits to the district superintendent is private data and cannot be designated as directory information or disclosed without the parent’s prior written consent unless a limited exception applies. School districts that receive federal funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act must provide military recruiters, when requested, with directory information that includes students’ names, addresses and telephone numbers. The district cannot release any information about a homeschool student to a military recruiter, particularly if the student’s parent requests that the district not release the information.