Homeschooling in California

You can start at the beginning of the year or in the middle of it. The state's online filing system is open August 1 to June 30 so new schools can file when they open; a school that opens in July files once the system reopens in August. You may withdraw your child and begin before you file.

CDE lists the steps for a new home-based private school in this order:

• Read the Education Code requirements for private schools
• Learn the courses of study in Education Code sections 51210 and 51220
• File the Private School Affidavit
• Withdraw your child from public school, if enrolled
• Set up your record keeping

You do not have to report to your school district after filing. CDE notes that the district is responsible for checking on school-age children who are not attending, so telling the district that you intend to school privately can prevent confusion.

The required records are the ones every private school keeps, listed in the steps above.

CDE also highly recommends keeping copies of every affidavit you file and individual pupil records of the kind described in the state's regulations on pupil records, Title 5, sections 430 to 437. Those records do their work later:

• Enrolling in public school, where the district decides placement and credit
• Applying to college, trade school, or the military
• Showing a district attendance supervisor that your school meets the law

California does not require state testing of private schools, including home-based private schools.

CDE suggests three ways to test: ask to join a local public or private school's testing, contact testing organizations for their public test dates, or use the assessments that come with a curriculum or online resource.

Federal law requires each school district to find and evaluate children with disabilities, including children their parents have placed in private schools, a duty called Child Find. A home-based private school is a private school, so you can ask your school district, in writing, to evaluate your child.

Federal rules give a parentally placed private school child no individual right to the services a public school student receives. The district spends a proportionate share of its federal special education money on private school students, decides after consultation which services to offer, and writes a services plan for each child it chooses to serve. A child who enrolls in public school, including a charter or independent study program, has the full right to an Individualized Education Program (IEP).

No California law or regulation sets graduation or diploma requirements for private schools, so a home-based private school sets its own. You create the diploma and transcript, and because the requirements are your own, colleges, technical schools, and employers such as the military decide whether to recognize them. CDE recommends checking their requirements early.

CDE lists two alternatives to a school diploma: the General Educational Development (GED) test and the California Proficiency Program (CPP).

The same advice applies to commercial curricula and out-of-state online programs: check how colleges and employers treat that coursework before relying on it.

Colleges and universities set their own admission rules for graduates of home-based private schools.

High school students can take community college courses by applying directly to a college, which sets its own rules and paperwork for students still in high school.

Homeschool dual enrollment in California

The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) governs high school sports, and its Bylaw 301 makes students in home schooling or home study run by parents or other persons ineligible for CIF competition. CIF explains that only a school's principal can certify academic eligibility, which programs outside a school board's oversight cannot provide.

Under Bylaw 302, a student in a school or district independent study program can compete for the public school in whose attendance area the family lives. The program must be run by that school's administration, use a curriculum the local board adopts that meets state graduation standards, be taught and graded by the school's paid staff, and enroll the student in at least 20 semester credits. Community leagues and clubs set their own rules.

Homeschool sports eligibility in California

California has no funding for home-based private schools. Parents select and pay for all curriculum, instruction, tests, and materials.

Public charter schools and district independent study programs are public schools, so any materials they provide come with public school enrollment and the school's requirements.

Homeschool tax breaks and funding in California

Filing the affidavit does not affect your child's right to a public education, and your child can enroll in public school at any time.

Each district sets its own policy for placing new students, and it may refuse to recognize the credits your home-based private school awarded. Students from other schools, states, and countries are placed the same way, under district policy and practice.

Public school officials must determine whether a child not in public school is truant or is being privately educated under an exemption. The attendance supervisor, or another person the board designates, verifies that a private school has filed its affidavit; until then, the exemption is not valid.

That verification is the district's role. The affidavit itself is a registration with CDE, not an application, and no state agency approves a home-based private school's curriculum.