Requirements

Notification

Parents/guardians of students between the ages of 7 (provided the date of birth is on, or before, September 1st) and 18 years of age, must notify WESD in writing of their intent to home school.  Notification must reach WESD within ten days of beginning to home school, withdrawing the child from public or private school, or moving to a new ESD service area.  The Notification of Intent to Home School form serves this purpose.  WESD will acknowledge receipt of notification in the form of a confirmation letter sent within ninety days.  Your student’s home school notification will remain active until we are contacted by the parent/guardian, school, or school district of any change of status.  Parents/guardians are required to notify WESD by contacting the Home School Registrar when withdrawing the student from home school or moving out of the ESD service area.  Please note, annual notification is no longer mandatory.

Content Standards

Required state testing focuses on satisfactory progress in academic areas.  Academic content standards and curriculum goals have been developed by ODE and are available on their website.  These academic content standards provide a framework for all content areas and are arranged as standards for grades 3, 5, 8, and 10.  You may review grade specific performance standards via the ODE website.  A list of Home School Curriculum, Program, & Testing Resources is available through WESD.  Parents/guardians are not required to use state content standards and may teach programs other than those taught in public and private school.

Laws

The Oregon State Legislature maintains records of the Oregon Laws in which the home school guidelines are consisted of. The specific Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR) and Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) that are pertinent to home school are listed on the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) website.  To find the ODE Home School page, please go to: “Teaching and Learning”; select “Diverse Learning”; then select “Home School”.  The Oregon School Board Association (OSBA) offers information on Oregon School District Policies.

Special Education Evaluations

Any student identified as eligible for special education and related services at their local public school may be evaluated by the school’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) Team to determine satisfactory educational progress.  The parent/guardian of an identified student also has the option of choosing private service providers to evaluate and determine satisfactory educational progress according to the recommendations of a Privately Developed Plan (PDP).  If the parent/guardian does not choose the option of having the student evaluated by either the IEP or PDP Team, the student must be tested with a standardized achievement test by a qualified and neutral test administrator prior to the end of grades 3, 5, 8, and 10.  You may review frequently asked questions for home schooling students with disabilities via the ODE website.

Testing

Home school students must be tested before the end of grades 3, 5, 8, and 10.  The end of the grade is defined as before August 15th, following the end of that school year.  If the student never attended public or private school, they must be tested before August 15th, following the end of grade 3.  If the student was withdrawn from public or private school, no testing is required for the first 18 months of home schooling, even if during that 18-month period the student is in grade 3, 5, 8, or 10.  For example, if a student completed grade 4 in public school and was withdrawn to be home schooled, the student would not be required to be tested at grade 5 because grade 5 is within the 18-month period.  The student would be required to be tested before August 15th, following grade 8.  Arrangements and cost for a qualified and neutral test administrator is the responsibility of the parent/guardian.  A current list of ODE Approved Home School Testers in the WESD Service Area is available through WESD.  A list of statewide certified testers is available on the ODE website.

See Additional Information regarding accreditation, completion, correspondence schools, curriculum and materials, driver permit/license, extracurricular activities, immunizations, interscholastic activities, and withdrawal.