Homeschooling in Arizona

Arizona law sets no withdrawal form and no deadline for leaving a public or charter school. The legal step is the affidavit, which goes to the county school superintendent, not to the school. You can start on any day of the year, and the 30 days run from the first day of homeschool instruction.

A signed, dated letter to the school tells it why your child stopped attending and when. It does not need to describe your teaching.

What the letter says

• Your child's full name, grade, and school
• That you are withdrawing your child to homeschool
• The date homeschooling begins
• Your signature and the date

Before you go, ask the school for copies of report cards, test scores, and any special education evaluations. If your child will use an ESA instead, the parent signs the ESA contract and does not file a homeschool affidavit; a student may stay enrolled until withdrawing before the first ESA deposit.

Arizona requires no homeschool records beyond the affidavit and the identity document, and the county keeps the copy of that document in your child's file. No one reviews your teaching materials or your child's work.

A short record still helps when your child steps back into a school or college system:

• Re-enrolling in a public school, which decides what high school credit to accept
• Applying to college

The useful set is small: the subjects and main materials for each year, a few samples of work, any test scores, and, from ninth grade on, each course with its grade and credit.

Arizona law says the state testing article does not require testing of children while they are receiving homeschool instruction. Nothing is measured or reported each year.

Tests come up only when your child moves into a school or college system:

• Returning to public school: a placement test, described below.
• High school equivalency: an Arizona high school equivalency diploma requires the same civics test as a public school diploma, which since the class of 2026 means at least 70 correct answers out of 100.
• College placement: community colleges place dual enrollment students in math and English by their own placement measures.

Every school district must find and evaluate children with disabilities who live in it, homeschooled children included (34 CFR 300.111). To start, ask the school district where you live, in writing, for an evaluation.

Arizona law says that, for federally required special education services to private school students, the state counts homeschooled students as private school students. A district or charter school that receives federal money to serve homeschooled or private school students must serve both groups in the same manner.

In practice, that means equitable services. The district consults with private school and homeschool representatives on how it spends its share of federal special education money, and an eligible child receives a services plan for the services the district chooses to provide. That plan is narrower than the full individualized education program (IEP) a child enrolled in public school receives.

A child with a disability can also qualify for an ESA, which can pay for therapies, evaluations, and aides. Signing an ESA contract releases the district from its duty to educate the child, so it ends homeschool status.

The State Board of Education's graduation requirements, the district course requirements, and the civics test apply to public and charter schools, not to a homeschool. You decide what your child studies in high school and when it is complete, and the state does not issue homeschool diplomas.

A homeschool graduate's record is two documents: a diploma you sign and a transcript that lists each course by year with its grade and credit, signed by the parent who oversaw the education.

Equivalency diploma

A student who wants a state credential can earn an Arizona high school equivalency diploma by passing the equivalency exam and the civics test described above.

Arizona law directs the Arizona Board of Regents to set guaranteed admission policies for the state universities that ensure fair and equitable access for students from public, private, and charter schools and homeschools. Arizona State University, for example, applies its general admission requirements to homeschool applicants, accepts a homeschool transcript signed by the parent, and accepts a parent's Affidavit of Completion of Secondary School Education as proof of graduation. ACT and SAT scores are not required there.

State law says homeschooled students may fully participate in dual enrollment, including receiving college credit. Community colleges admit high school students under their own policies, including placement in math and English, and an independent homeschool family pays the tuition.

Homeschool dual enrollment in Arizona

A homeschooled child who lives in a public school's attendance area may try out for that school's interscholastic activities, sports included, in the same manner as an enrolled student. Registration, age eligibility, fees, insurance, transportation, physicals, and standards of behavior and performance are the same as for enrolled students, and the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) rules on age, residence, and amateur status apply.

The parent who teaches gives the school written verification of two things: whether your child is receiving a passing grade in each subject, and whether your child is making satisfactory progress toward promotion. A child who was enrolled in a public, private, or charter school earlier in the school year cannot compete as a homeschooler until the next school year. The law guarantees a tryout, not a roster spot.

Homeschool sports eligibility in Arizona

Arizona has no state income tax credit or deduction for homeschool costs. Its private school tax credits fund school tuition organizations, which pay scholarships toward tuition at qualified private schools, not homeschool expenses.

Any Arizona resident child who could attend a public school, from preschool for children with disabilities through grade 12, can qualify for an Empowerment Scholarship Account. It deposits 90 percent of the state funding a charter school would receive for your child, and the money pays for approved expenses such as curricula, tutoring, online programs, tests, public school classes, and college tuition. The parent signs a contract to teach the same five subjects and agrees not to file a homeschool affidavit, so an ESA student is not a homeschool student under the law. The account is renewed every year, and the money is not taxable income.

Homeschool tax breaks and funding in Arizona

A child can enroll in an Arizona public school at any time. A child who enrolls in kindergarten through grade 12 after homeschooling is tested under the state testing article to set the grade level for placement.

For high school credit, Arizona law sets a credit-by-examination process for students who transfer from a private school, but it is silent on homeschool courses, so each district decides how to treat them. Once enrolled, a high school student can also earn credit for a course without taking it by demonstrating competency under State Board of Education rules, and a district must accept college and university courses toward graduation.

If the affidavit or identity document is missing, the county office must warn you in writing that the case goes to local law enforcement unless you comply within ten days, and must refer it if you do not. An affidavit that looks inaccurate or suspicious is reported to law enforcement right away.

Failing to file the affidavit is a petty offense. A parent who neither homeschools nor enrolls a child in school nor signs an ESA contract commits a class 3 misdemeanor.