County Watch

Fall 2007

Mercer County—Attendance Director Rick Ball rejected a homeschool portfolio for the 2006-07 school year because the teacher who evaluated the portfolio was also providing the home instruction. When consulted about the problem by WVHEA, the West Va. Dept. of Education (WVDE) advised Mr. Ball that there was nothing in the law to prevent a teacher from providing home instruction to a child and evaluating that child’s portfolio for an annual assessment. However, the WVDE did express concern that the evaluator was not certified to teach in WV (he is licensed in Virginia, where he teaches). The WVDE’s opinion is that the law implies that a portfolio evaluator should be certified in WV.

The section of W. Va. Code §18-8-1 in question reads:

(iii) The county superintendent is provided with a written narrative indicating that a portfolio of samples of the child's work has been reviewed and that the child's academic progress for the year is in accordance with the child's abilities. If the narrative indicates that the child's academic progress for the year is in accordance with the child's abilities, the child shall be considered to have made acceptable progress. This narrative shall be prepared by a certified teacher whose certification number shall be provided. The narrative shall include a statement about the child's progress in the areas of reading, language, mathematics, science and social studies and shall note any areas which, in the professional opinion of the reviewer, show need for improvement or remediation;

WVHEA agrees with the WVDE that the law allows teachers to provide home instruction to a child and evaluate that child’s portfolio for the annual assessment. However, it does not agree that the law limits the pool of portfolio evaluators to teachers with a current WV license. Many if not most counties (including Mercer) accept portfolio evaluations from teachers with valid licenses in other states. Internet access makes it easy to validate teacher certification in every state. WVHEA encourages families who use portfolio reviews to provide counties with a quick way to validate their evaluator’s license, such as the link to the state government website where the license can be verified.

Nevertheless, the family obtained another portfolio evaluation by a WV-certified teacher and submitted the new evaluation to the county. The family has not heard anything further from the county board. They obtained this year’s textbooks for their student without incident (the textbook warehouse people are wonderful to work with, the parent says) and continue to homeschool.

Nicholas County — A family homeschooling a kindergartener sought help from the county board of education in finding a portfolio evaluator. The county homeschool coordinator told the parent that she must use an evaluator who taught in the county. Unaware that the law allows any state-licensed teacher to evaluate portfolios, the parent began her search with teachers at the local schools. But despite her efforts and long acquaintance with many of the teachers, she was unable to find an evaluator. Finally one teacher admitted that the county homeschool coordinator had “advised” teachers not to serve as evaluators. Eventually, a retired teacher agreed to conduct the evaluation.

At the suggestion of a longtime homeschool parent in the county, the parent talked with the county superintendent about her experience. The superintendent apologized for his office’s poor treatment of the homeschool family and promised to rectify the situation. The superintendent also encouraged the parent to “feel free to call or come in” with any other problems.

Winter - 2006

Fayette County – The new county attendance director, Judy Lively, mailed a packet to homeschool families in December about the annual assessment requirement. One of the forms included in the packet was to be used to sign up for the WESTEST; it demanded that all families – not just those who wished to take the WESTEST – use the form to notify the attendance director by January 1 about which assessment option they would use that year. Also included in the packet was a four-page form to be used for portfolio evaluations; the form required specific information about textbooks and resources the student used for each subject area mentioned in the law. The letter enclosed with the forms stated that portfolio evaluators must use the enclosed form. Ms. Lively’s letter further stated that if a child’s assessment was not submitted by June 30, "the parent/guardian shall be denied the right to home school his or her child the following year."

The letter encouraged homeschool students to take the WESTEST since the school principal would use the scores from that test for grade placement if a student were to enroll in public school the following school year. The school principal would also assess final credit for homeschool students’ coursework in grades 9-12, the letter explained.

A parent who called Ms. Lively to discuss the packet reported a pleasant conversation. The attendance director explained that her letter was intended to determine how many homeschooled students would be taking the WESTEST. The county must order the tests in January, and she wanted to make sure there would be a test for each homeschooled student who wanted to take it. Regarding the portfolio form, Ms. Lively said she had developed the form in response to teachers’ queries about the information needed for a portfolio review. She is aware of the difficulty in finding teachers willing to review homeschoolers’ portfolios and thought that a form with clear requirements would ease teachers’ discomfort with the portfolio review process.

The parent told Ms. Lively about WVHEA’s testing service and explained how it could help families meet the annual assessment requirement for students in grades not covered by the WESTEST (the WESTEST is available only for grades 3-8 and grade 10).

WVHEA sent Ms. Lively information about its testing service. Later, Ms. Lively mailed a revised letter to homeschool families in the county, correcting the errors in the previous letter and offering assistance to those who want to use the portfolio option.

Randolph County – In 2005, the county adopted a new policy for homeschool students entering the school system. The new policy requires testing for homeschool students enrolling in public school grades 1 through 12. Test results will determine grade placement. County policy requires each student to pass 80% of the core subjects in order to be promoted to the next grade. Homeschooled students seeking credit for a course required for a high school diploma must pay for and pass a subject mastery exam or an end of course exam; the transcript grade for that course will be the student’s score on the exam. To receive a diploma, a homeschool student must enroll in the public high school, complete the senior year at the school and meet the county’s graduation requirements. Assistant Superintendent Barbara Korn said there were no public comments made on the policy before it was instituted. Call the county board office for a copy of the policy.

Wayne County – At the beginning of December, a number of families received a memorandum from the attendance director, Carl Steele, which stated that his office had not yet received their children's plans of instruction for the current school year. In the memo, Mr. Steele threatened “to take action” if the families did not submit the plans by January 3, 2006.

Some homeschool parents talked with Wayne County school board members about the memo. The families explained that they had sent in their plans with their notices of intent before the current school year had begun. The board members told them that some homeschool families “weren't doing their job.” The parents then asked why the county was harassing them since their children’s annual assessments clearly showed that they had demonstrated academic progress.

About two weeks later, families who had received the memo received a letter from the attendance director apologizing for the erroneous requests for information.

Fall 2006

Roane and Clay counties — Two parents sent their letters of intent to homeschool and requested access to field trips, assemblies, and other class activities for their children. The Roane County attendance director replied that there were insurance issues with non-enrolled children participating in class activities, but directed the parent to the school principal. Clay County Board of Education did not respond to the parent’s request, nor did the local school (one parent had copied the local school principal on her request).

WVHEA sent a copy of a letter from the WV Bureau of Risk & Insurance Management (provided by Randy Minor ) to each parent. The letter says that a school’s risk is not affected if a child who is not enrolled participates in extracurricular activities.

Morgan County — WVHEA Board member Pam Mann reported that the county’s new homeschool coordinator was enacting new homeschool policies that were not supported by the law. The coordinator a) requested the type of assessment homeschool families planned to use; b) would not accept portfolio evaluations from teachers without WV certification; and c) refused to accept portfolio evaluations from homeschool parents who are certified teachers. The coordinator developed these new policies after consulting with the WVDE’s Karen Larry.

The coordinator met with a group of county homeschoolers in early September to discuss the new policies and during the discussion agreed to accept evaluations from teachers certified out of state, provided the evaluators supplied the information necessary to verify their certification.

In an email to WVHEA, Karen Larry supported the county coordinator’s interpretation of the law. WVHEA responded, explaining our understanding of the law and promising to inform the evaluators it knows of regarding the portfolio assessment requirements.

Meanwhile, Morgan County homeschool families plan to continue to monitor the situation.

Spring 2006

Monongalia County – When a parent sent her child’s alternative assessment to the county superintendent last year, the homeschool coordinator’s secretary told her that alternative academic assessments were only available to children in public school special education programs. Further, the secretary told her, homeschoolers can use only standardized tests or a portfolio review to meet the annual assessment requirement.

The parent wrote a letter explaining that the law allows homeschoolers to use an alternative academic assessment and enclosed a copy of the law with the assessment passage highlighted. The county BOE office did not respond to the letter, and the parent has heard nothing more about the matter.

Wayne County – When her child became eligible to drive, a parent took the appropriate DMV form to the county attendance director for his signature. The attendance director refused to sign, saying that the family was not in compliance. He insisted that the parent account for days and length of time spent on each subject to meet the plan of instruction requirement. Initially, the parent refused, insisting that she had submitted a plan of instruction at the beginning of the year with her notice of intent. But getting her child’s driver’s license was so important, the parent eventually filled out the forms, and the attendance director signed the DMV form.

The parent then consulted with a local attorney, talked with WVHEA representatives and called the WVDE’s non-public education administrator, Karen Larry. Earlier, Ms. Larry had offered to attend a meeting with county school officials and homeschool families to try to help resolve outstanding issues with the attendance director. WVHEA contacted a number of families in the county who had expressed interest in attending such a meeting.

Then the parent received a call from Katie Carey, the county’s assistant superintendent of schools, who apologized profusely and said that she had spoken with the attendance director about his errors in handling this case. Ms. Carey said there was no need for a meeting with Ms. Larry.

The parent replied that other homeschool families in the county were still having difficulty with the attendance director, particularly those new to the county. Ms. Carey then offered to serve as the contact for any homeschool family with questions or problems. Ms. Carey can be reached at 272-5116 ext. 350.

Berkeley County – Previously we reported on the practice in Berkeley County of charging deposits of as much as $150 to homeschool families who use county school textbooks, despite State Superintendent interpretations on this matter [see WVHEA Report, August 2002]. Some homeschool parents in the county questioned the policy, and Karen Larry, the State Superintendent’s executive assistant for non-public education, discussed the matter with county personnel, pointing out the illegality of the practice. Still, county representatives continued to require homeschoolers to pay a deposit for textbooks.

One persistent homeschool parent, Marilyn Kinyon of Hedgesville, kept after the county via email, politely maintaining that textbook deposits were not valid. Chris Coffinberger, a secretary at the county board of education (BOE), replied that the BOE’s legal department would research the issue. Finally, last November Ms. Coffinberger informed Ms. Kinyon that the county would discontinue the practice of charging deposits for textbooks.

Ms. Coffinberger does want to make sure homeschoolers understand that the county loans the textbooks to homeschoolers, and that the books must be returned at the end of the school year.

Cabell County – In September, Cabell County homeschoolers who wanted to use school textbooks ran into some difficulties. Some were told that the books would not be available until two weeks after the school year began; others were simply not able to obtain the books they needed.

Nancy Imhoff spoke with county personnel and explained the state superintendent’s interpretation on this issue and that it has the force of law. Other homeschooling parents called the WVDE for help.

It appears that the misunderstanding was because some county board of education personnel are new and unfamiliar with the law. County Superintendent Roach asked his secretary to make a list of the books which families have requested and which the depository doesn't have in stock. Also, all schools in the county were notified to return any textbooks which they have not already placed in children's hands. The county will probably have to order more books to meet the needs of the homeschoolers.

Nancy followed up a week later with another call to Clare Eastham, a secretary at the county board of education. “She said that all is well,” wrote Nancy. “Any books that the county book depository does not have, they have ordered, including Kindergarten workbooks.”

Harrison County – A parent requested textbooks for her child, who was registered with the county as a first-grade homeschool student. She wanted only one book for each subject, but requested specific texts (e.g., the 2^nd grade language arts text, 1st grade math and science, and 3^rd grade social studies). The textbook warehouse refused her request, but after some discussion with the parent and further consideration, the attendance director decided to allow it.

Upshur County – A family whose child wanted to enroll in public school full-time ran into problems. The parents tried to enroll the student in the spring of last year for the current school year (so that the child could make sure she got in certain classes), but the school would not allow it.

Despite the family’s statement that the student would not be a candidate for a diploma, the principal would not let the child enroll without taking placement tests. In addition, the county said they would charge the family $100/test/subject. The mother offered her child’s most recent achievement test scores to help with placement, but the school officials would not consider those scores. The school wanted to review a portfolio of the child’s work, but the parent did not have anything that could be used in a portfolio; she said that she did not have the space to keep any of her children’s schoolwork.

When consulted about this situation, the West Virginia Department of Education’s (WVDE) Karen Larry said that each county determines its own criteria for accepting homeschool work. Regarding charging for placement testing, Ms. Larry wrote, “If the school system charges the public school student to take this test to receive credit for a class not taken (in the public school), then it would be ok to charge the home school student who wanted the credit."

Finally, the parent met with a new vice-principal at the school who wasn’t familiar with the case, and he approved the child’s admission to the 11^th grade. By this time, however, some classes the student wanted to take were no longer available.

The parent strongly urges any families considering a public high school education for their children, whether or not they want a diploma, to enroll them from the start in 9^th grade; “it’s just too hard otherwise.”

Wayne County — Two home-school families in Wayne County notified WVHEA that the county attendance director’s office requested that they fill out progress reports every nine weeks "to let them know how many minutes a day we are doing each subject." Once they filled out the forms, the office said, they would receive the textbooks they had requested. The parent of one family refused, saying that such reports are not required, and was given the textbooks.

When Carl Steele, the county’s attendance director, spoke to the other family about completing progress reports before they could receive the textbooks, the parent replied that she had already complied with the law, which did not require forms, and had provided all the required information.

WVHEA asked the WVDE's Karen Larry to help resolve the matter. She called Mr. Steele and clarified some areas of the law for him. She also assured him that he was acting within the law to require families to provide an outline of a plan of instruction.

WVHEA sent Ms. Larry a copy of the family’s notice of intent, which included an outline of the plan of instruction. The outline explained the family’s method of homeschooling, giving an example of how they follow their children’s interests while helping them learn the subjects mentioned in the law.

Mr. Steele threatened the family with legal action if they continued to disobey the compulsory attendance law. The parent spoke with Karen Larry, who told her that her outline of a plan of instruction need not be “voluminous”, but the county was within its rights to require more of an outline than had been provided. Ms. Larry referred to a 1991 state superintendent’s interpretation, which reads, in part:

If the plan of instruction is deemed inadequate and is not able to be amended and agreed upon by the parents and the county, then [the compulsory attendance exemption] could be denied by my office or the county superintendent could seek the remedies available in circuit court.

In an email to WVHEA, Ms. Larry wrote: “If the county wants more than just the names of the subjects, the county should definitely make its expectations very clear up front and offer assistance to the home school provider.”

The parent phoned Mr. Steele to find out his requirements for an outline of a plan of instruction, but had not yet heard from him by the time we went to press.

Lewis County — When a parent submitted her child’s assessment (a portfolio evaluation) after the June 30 due date, Attendance Director Randall Myers refused to accept the evaluation as evidence that the child had satisfactorily completed the school year. He cited numerous “problems” with the assessment, including the evaluator’s lack of a West Virginia teacher certification. (The teacher was certified in Ohio and Louisiana.) WV state law requires that portfolio evaluators be certified teachers, but it does not specify that they must have WV certification. Mr. Myers insisted that another evaluation be conducted by a teacher with WV certification. The family decided to comply with Mr. Myers’s demand and submitted another evaluation. This second assessment, performed by a WV-certified teacher, was accepted, and the family continues to homeschool.

Mineral County – Several homeschool parents reported receiving a letter from the county BOE asking them to provide the certification number of the teacher who will conduct their child’s portfolio review. One parent reported that she complied with the request; others said that they did not.

On or before the thirtieth day of June of each year the person or persons providing home instruction shall obtain an academic assessment of the child for the previous school year and submit the results to the county superintendent.

The county superintendent is provided with a written narrative indicating that a portfolio of samples of the child's work has been reviewed and that the child's academic progress for the year is in accordance with the child's abilities. …This narrative shall be prepared by a certified teacher whose certification number shall be provided.”

The usual practice is for portfolio evaluators to provide documentation of their qualifications with the written narrative, which parents submit at the end of the school year. The law does not require parents to notify the county superintendent ahead of time about the type of assessment they intend to use, nor does it require the portfolio evaluator’s teacher certification number be provided separately from the evaluation.

Wayne County – After sending their notices of intent to homeschool to the county superintendent’s office, several parents reported receiving a letter from the county with a request to return the completed notice of intent forms. The forms contained a reference to “WV State Education Law H.B. 2781, under Exemption B of the West Virginia Code.” (Ed: H.B. 2781 was the bill number for the 1987 legislation that instituted WV’s “homeschooling law.”)

When one parent called the county homeschool liaison’s office about the letter, she was told that each child needs to have a form for the office’s record-keeping system. The incorrect legal reference was not addressed. Some parents responded with a letter stating that they had already complied with the law and would not be returning a completed form.

A new homeschooling family reported receiving another kind of packet after submitting a notice of intent to homeschool. The packet included forms requesting “daily, weekly, and 9-week lesson plans.” In a phone conversation with the county homeschool liaison’s secretary, the parent explained that she was using the notice of intent homeschool option, not the approval option. The parent did not return the paperwork, nor did she hear any more from the county.

Berkeley County – In July we learned that Berkeley County charges homeschoolers $150 to rent textbooks for the school year. There is a State Superintendent’s interpretation on this issue, dated September 23, 2002. It states, in part,

When previously interpreting this section of West Virginia Code, Henry Marockie stated “that you must provide home-schooled children with free textbooks, workbooks and other instructional materials necessary for successful completion of their curricula as though they were attending public school.” Superintendent Interpretation October 4, 1990 addressed to Samson D. Bland.

I know of no new law that would permit the practice of charging such a deposit to public or home-schooled students. Your county may charge a fee to replace damaged, destroyed or lost materials if the same is part of a policy that applies equally to public and home-schooled students.

A Berkeley County parent whose children were in the county schools last year stated that children in county schools are not charged a textbook rental fee.

Monongalia County – In late July, several homeschoolers received a letter from the county Board in response to their notices of intent. The letter asked the recipients to complete some enclosed forms so that their “application” to homeschool could be “approved.” In at least some cases, parents were asked to disclose how they planned to assess their children.

The county was using forms WVHEA had included in an information packet to county boards after adoption of law revisions in 2003, intended to be used by them to "help you streamline homeschool administration." WVHEA had clearly stated, "Please note: the law does not require use of any form."

A parent in the county called the letter's author (a secretary at the county BOE who recently had been placed in charge of homeschool recordkeeping) and was told that the office was simply trying to standardize its records by asking homeschoolers to fill out the forms. The parent was assured that the intent was not to upset homeschoolers and that choosing a particular type of assessment was not a binding commitment, just an acknowledgement that an annual assessment was required.

The following day, several parents reported receiving another letter from the county, asking them to disregard the previous letter. This is a good example of how a polite call can quickly resolve a misunderstanding by county personnel and make them better informed about what the law requires.

Some county offices confuse the old section of the law, 18-8-1(c) subdivision 1, which does allow counties to "approve" homeschooling programs and request information at their discretion, and 18-8-1(c) subdivision 2, which requires notification, submission of a plan of instruction and verification of parent education, and an annual assessment. The law does not require homeschoolers filing under the notice of intent option to inform the county in advance of the type of assessment they will use (One exception: if you wish to test in the public school, notify the county and the school early in the school year to make sure they have enough tests. See Annual Assessment – Public School Testing program).

Barbour County -- A homeschool parent received a letter requesting a notice of intent for the 2003-04 school year. Included with the letter was a notice of intent form, which was virtually identical to the one WVHEA distributed to county superintendents in a homeschool information packet, and a copy of the county’s policies and procedures concerning homeschooling. The parent noticed a couple of errors, most notably a request for the POI to include information from subsection one (the approval option), such as number of instructional days.

In her reply, the parent explained that she had enclosed a notice of intent to homeschool for 2003-04 with her annual assessment, mailed last June. She also enclosed a copy of her support group’s (Covered Bridge Christian Home Educators) notice of intent form, and addressed the errors in the county policies and procedures.

Shortly thereafter, the county homeschool coordinator called the parent to let her know that he had corrected the county homeschool procedures and would send her a copy. The homeschool parent reports that the conversation was very cordial and the coordinator expressed a desire to build a cooperative relationship with homeschoolers in the county.

Harrison County – Homeschoolers in Harrison usually receive an acknowledgement from the school board when they file a notice of intent, which they use to obtain teacher discounts at various stores and events. When a parent called to ask when the acknowledgements would be sent out, she was informed that the county is reviewing the curriculum of every homeschooler. There is no word yet on when the county expects to complete its homeschool curriculum review.

Preston County – Some homeschoolers received a thick packet of information from the school board, which included an outdated notice of intent form, copies of some state superintendent interpretations having to do with homeschooling, and a sample outline of a plan of instruction for a 10^th grade student. One homeschool parent filled out the notice of intent form according to the current legal requirements and crossed out the part of the form that asked for a 4-year degree. She returned the form with her plan of instruction to the school board office and received no response.

Monongalia County – The school board office distributes the WVHEA notice of intent form and other forms from the homeschool packet WVHEA sent to county superintendent offices last spring.

Wayne County – The Huntington Herald-Dispatch reported that the Wayne County school board was considering a requirement that homeschoolers submit progress reports periodically during the year (“Progress reports proposed for home-schooled children“, 7/2/03). The article also suggested that board members believed that the county board must approve homeschoolers’ remediation programs. 119 of the 188 homeschoolers in Wayne County had failed to comply with the law, according to the article.

WVHEA wrote a letter to the Herald-Dispatch, noting the different requirements for those who homeschool under the approval option and those who file a notice of intent. Our letter also pointed out that the law did not specify that county school boards must approve remediation programs.

A Wayne County homeschooler spoke with Wayne’s Homeschool Coordinator, Carl Steele, twice about this matter. During the first conversation Mr. Steele said that progress reports would indeed be required. However, the second conversation apparently occurred after Mr. Steele had talked with Karen Larry, of the WV Department of Education. He said that the conversation had answered many of his questions, and the county would not be requiring progress reports for homeschooled children. -- Thanks to Nancy Imhoff (Huntington) for reporting about this situation.

Nicholas County – HSLDA’s Court Report (March/April 2003) reported that one of their Nicholas County members received a form from the county “asking for the homeschool instructor's Social Security number and proof that the instructor had four years more formal education than his eldest student.” Scott Woodruff, HSLDA attorney for WV, informed the county’s Homeschool Coordinator, Hugh Johnson, that the four-year rule has been waived until June 2003. (These events took place prior to the passage of the law eliminating the four-year rule.) “Mr. Johnson promptly wrote Nicholas County homeschool families, explaining that the four-year requirement is not applicable this year and expressing his hope that the county's mistake did not cause homeschool families any inconvenience.”

The report went on to explain that the “Privacy Act of 1974 prohibits any government agency from requesting a Social Security number unless the citizen is told whether the disclosure is mandatory or voluntary. If it is mandatory, the agency must state the statute or other authority that allows them to make it mandatory. Social Security numbers can be abused if they fall into the wrong hands and it is usually wise to disclose this information only when it is clearly required under law.” The report expressed the hope that Nicholas County would no longer ask for home-schoolers’ Social Security numbers.

Hampshire County -- A homeschooler reported receiving a notice of intent form from her county asking for information that is not required by law. The homeschooler returned the form to the county, explaining which information was not legally required. She then used her own support group’s form to file a notice of intent for the upcoming year.

Thanks to all the people who keep us informed about what’s happening with homeschooling throughout West Virginia. Please send information about issues in your county to info@wvhea.org, and include what you or your group did to resolve the problem. If you or your group is having difficulty resolving a situation with your county, please let WVHEA know (800-737-9843). The organization’s members have been homeschooling throughout West Virginia since the 1980s, and we offer assistance, information, and experience in developing solutions to homeschooling issues in our state.