Homeschooling in Hawaii

Withdrawing and giving notice are the same step in Hawaii. The notice goes to the school your child is leaving, or for a child not yet enrolled, to the geographic school for your child's grade; the department's Find Your School tool shows which one. You can start on any day of the year.

Filling in Form 4140

• The top portion: your child's name, student ID number if known, birth date, phone number, address, school, complex area, and grade
• Your printed name, signature, and the date
• Section B, Option 5, which is the homeschool exception

The principal and the complex area superintendent sign the notice and the school returns it to you. A signed copy stays on file at the school and the district office, and the school also sends you the homeschool rules and the testing and progress report requirements.

Keep your copy. The rules say the notice exists for record keeping and to protect families from unfounded accusations of educational neglect or truancy.

The curriculum record is the one record Hawaii requires, and you keep it at home. The rules say the planned curriculum should be structured around educational objectives and your child's needs, build in sequence, and take your child's interests and abilities into account. Elementary subjects may include language arts, math, social studies, science, art, music, health, and physical education; secondary subjects may include social studies, English, math, science, health, physical education, and guidance. The textbook list uses standard citation format: author, title, publisher, and date for books.

Your own copies of every report and score matter later. They are what the high school principal relies on for the compliance letter described under college, and the only evidence a public high school has of what your child studied, since homeschool time earns no credits.

Hawaii's rules name grade 10 for the high school test, but public school students are now tested in grade 11 instead, and the homeschool rule has not changed.

The tests must be comparable to the ones the department uses in those grades. Free options at your local school are the Smarter Balanced and Hawaii State Assessment (HSA) Science tests, or the HSA Alternate tests; get the dates from the principal. Private testing costs you, and the principal can approve another means of evaluation.

What counts as adequate progress

When test scores are used, adequate progress is a score in the upper two thirds of the score range. Below that, the principal meets with you to plan improvements and may then ask for your curriculum record. The principal may recommend enrolling your child in school, or legal action for educational neglect, only after two consecutive semesters of inadequate progress, and never before third grade.

The Hawaii State Department of Education is a single statewide school district, and it must locate and evaluate children with disabilities who live in Hawaii, homeschooled children included. This duty is called Child Find. Request an evaluation in writing from the home public school.

Hawaii's rule is broader than the federal minimum. A homeschooled child who has been evaluated and found to need special education and related services can receive all the services state and federal law require, at the home public school, when the parent asks for them. You request the services; the school does not assign them.

Hawaii's homeschool rules award no course credits, called Carnegie units, for time spent homeschooling, and the Department of Education does not issue diplomas to homeschoolers. The parent sets the high school program and keeps the transcript.

Two state credentials

• A public school diploma, which requires attending a public high school for at least three full years and meeting its graduation credit requirements
• A high school equivalency credential, which a homeschooled student with a valid Form 4140 earns by passing the GED or High School Equivalency Test through the community school for adults

A homeschooled student may take any college entrance exam offered to all students. On request, the principal of your designated high school gives you a written acknowledgement that your child was homeschooled in compliance with the state rules, provided every yearly report and score was turned in. Colleges set their own admission rules for homeschool applicants.

High school students can start college courses through early admission at University of Hawaii community colleges. Each campus sets its own rules: Leeward Community College accepts homeschooled students from age 14 with SAT or ACT scores, and Kauai Community College from age 16. Applicants submit Form 4140 and health clearances, and the family pays tuition, books, and fees.

Homeschool dual enrollment in Hawaii

Hawaii gives homeschoolers no right to play on public school teams. The homeschool rules make the parent who files the notice responsible for the child's whole program, athletics and other co-curricular activities included, and no state law or rule opens Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA) teams to a student who is not enrolled. The same rule holds on every island.

HHSAA's administrative regulations tie eligibility to enrollment at the school, with an enrollment deadline for each season, so school sports mean enrolling in a school. Otherwise, club and community programs are the route to competition.

Homeschool sports eligibility in Hawaii

Hawaii has no homeschool tax credit, deduction, education savings account, or voucher, so the family pays for curriculum and materials. The state does cover two things: state testing at your local public school costs nothing, and special education services your child is certified as needing are made available at the home public school.

Homeschool tax breaks and funding in Hawaii

To end homeschooling, tell the principal who received your notice, in writing or in person, and say where your child is going. Your child must be enrolled in a public or licensed private school within five school days, unless you present another approved alternative program.

In grades 1 through 8, the school places your child in the grade that fits their age. A high school-aged student enters ninth grade. If you disagree with the placement, the school may evaluate your child and should involve you, and the principal makes the final decision. A student with a disability may be re-evaluated to decide services and placement and may attend through age 21; other students over 20 on the first day of school cannot enroll.

The principal reviews each year's progress report. When the principal has reasonable cause to believe a child is being educationally neglected, the department intervenes under its procedures. The rules add a protection: refusing a request that goes beyond what chapter 8-12 requires is not reasonable cause for a neglect finding.

If the school contacts you, the signed notice and the reports you have filed are the answer. Nothing beyond them is owed unless the principal has found progress inadequate.