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School access for homeschoolers
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Quintessence
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Oct 25, 1999 20:54 PDT
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Hello, fellow homeschoolers,
Pauline asked this to be forwarded to the list.
Regards, Ben Mettes.
| | Hey UGC types: can you help me with this? I'd really like to have a
bunch of stories like "the schools couldn't / wouldn't accomodate my
(very expensive to educate) gifted kid" so i'm doing it myself."
Details below:
HOMESCHOOLERS VS. PENN DELCO SCHOOL BOARD
The Penn Delco PA school board has proposed a policy denying all
curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular services to
homeschoolers, except those special ed services (not including
gifted) required by law. Currently, their policy does not deny
services, and they have occasionally allowed participation in the
past. PA state law leaves this decision up to the individual
district.
--I NEED YOUR HELP!
--Does your school district have a policy friendly to homeschoolers?
If this is a formal policy, I'd like a copy so that I can show that
it is possible to write such a policy. If this is an informal
policy, a paragraph or so about how it worked for your family would
help.
--If you have used any curricular, co-curricular, or extra-curricular
services from your school district, please send me a paragraph or two
about it. What were the benefits to your child? What, if any, were
the benefits to the school district (child was library volunteer,
cheaper special ed program at home, different perspective in the
classroom, etc.) Why did you choose to use the school's services
rather than those available privately (if any)? The point I am
trying to make is that each case is different, and must be evaluated
individually.
--If you have been offered services but chose not to use them, that
would be good to know too. Something like "the principal very
generously offered such and such, but we havent taken him up on it
because whatever." It's important to show that most homeschoolers
dont want or need services.
--Do you have any information about how other states handle this
issue? I know that Alaska has run correspondance courses, and that
California has district-run homeschool programs, and that several
states specifically allow homeschooler participation. I'd like to
give the board a full picture of the spectrum of possibilities.
BY THE WAY: I realize that many homeschoolers want nothing to do
with the public schools. That's cool. I just want to leave that
door open for those who may need it.
I have homeschooled my kids in the past, but they are currently
attending public school in Penn Delco.
I went to the last school board meeting and convinced them to table
the vote on this policy until they could get some input from
homeschoolers. My points were:
--There aren't very many homeschoolers, and they generally do not
want services.
--In some cases (special ed, gifted), homeschooling can save the
district money, and services may facilitate this.
--Other districts have more open policies, without problems.
--The district generally helps out community members and
organizations by lending softball fields, allowing exchange
students, etc.
--If the district wants to deny a particular homeschooler's
participation in a particular activity, they have the right to do
so, but there's no need to close the door to all participation.
--The board did not have enough information about the current
policy, it's implementation, and the reasons behind the proposed
policy.
Also, I have since realized that:
--Under PA law, homeschoolers fall under the district's
jurisdiction. We must file various documents with the district,
and have other obligations to them. In this way, we are more
like enrolled homebound students than private school students.
I specifically did not point out that I was a taxpayer and
therefore have rights. The fact is that homeschoolers do not have
the right to participation in PA. Also, school board members, who
are not paid for their hard work, are sick of people who have never
showed up at a board meeting all of a sudden demanding rights.
One of the board's fears is that if homeschoolers are allowed
services, private school students will want them too, and that
will be expensive. Thus I tried to portray homeschooling as
different than private schooling.
I also tried to make the board consider homeschoolers as "us",
rather than "them".
I NEED YOUR HELP.
Although Round One was in favor of homeschoolers, this issue is
not yet resolved. Please help me continue to fight for the rights
of homeschoolers.
PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO ANYONE WHO MAY BE ABLE TO HELP ME!
Thanks in advance,
Pauline Harding
hardingpj @aol.com
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