Homeschooling in Maryland

You can start home instruction at any point in the year, but the consent form comes first. It must reach the local superintendent at least 15 days before your program begins, on either supervision route.

Plan the dates so your child stays in school until instruction starts. MSDE warns that a parent who withdraws a child before submitting the form and beginning home instruction can be held responsible for unexcused absences.

Leaving the school

• File the consent form with the superintendent, or through your supervising school if you use one, and keep a copy
• Tell your child's school the date home instruction begins and follow its withdrawal steps
• Ask for copies of report cards, test scores, and any special education evaluations before the last day

If you choose a supervising church or nonpublic school, enroll with it before the start date; it then reports your child to the school system as newly under its supervision.

The portfolio is the record Maryland requires on the school system route. It must show regular, thorough instruction in all eight subjects, and the school system reviews it at the end of each semester.

Families supervised by a church or nonpublic school follow that supervisor's record rules instead; the state requires only the consent form and annual verification.

A few records beyond the portfolio save time later:

• The consent form and each year's verification, which show the program is lawful
• Any written notice of a deficiency and the evidence you sent in response
• From ninth grade on, each course with its grade and credit, which the superintendent weighs when awarding credit if your child returns
• Standardized test results, which help with placement and college applications

Maryland requires no standardized tests of home-instructed children. On request, your child may take part in the regularly scheduled standardized testing given in the public school your child is eligible to attend. Ask that school for the schedule and arrange it before the test date.

Tests come up again if your child enrolls in public school, when the superintendent may use standardized tests and examinations to set placement and credit, and if your child seeks a Maryland High School Diploma through the GED tests.

Federal law requires each school system to find and evaluate children with disabilities who live in its area, a duty called Child Find, and that includes home-instructed children. To request an evaluation, write to your local school system's Child Find office. Maryland regulations require the evaluation to be finished within 60 days of your consent to assessments and within 90 days of the school system receiving the written referral.

Services are a separate question. Maryland's special education regulations write services plans for students their parents enroll in nonpublic schools, and they do not mention home instruction programs. A home-instructed child has no right under the home instruction regulations to public school courses or services, so an Individualized Education Program (IEP) is carried out when the child enrolls in public school.

Maryland's graduation requirements and the Maryland High School Diploma belong to public schools. A home-instructed student does not earn that diploma unless the student transfers to a public school and meets all its graduation requirements. A student supervised by a state-approved nonpublic school or a church-exempt school may earn that school's diploma.

A student 16 or older can earn the Maryland High School Diploma by passing the GED tests.

The parent writes the high school transcript. College courses taken during high school appear on the college's own transcript.

Maryland colleges and universities set their own admission rules for home-instructed graduates.

High school students can take college courses by applying directly to a Maryland college, and the home instruction regulations let a program include part-time or full-time courses at accredited or unaccredited colleges. Ask the college about its rules for applicants under 18 and any placement testing.

Homeschool dual enrollment in Maryland

Maryland's public school athletics rules require a student to be officially registered at and attending the member school, and a student may represent only the school where they are expected to complete graduation requirements. A local school system may adopt stricter rules but not looser ones, so a county cannot open its teams to home-instructed students.

The rule covers every interscholastic contest, not only state playoffs. Community leagues and clubs that are not school teams set their own rules.

Homeschool sports eligibility in Maryland

No. Maryland has no homeschool tax credit or deduction, and its home instruction regulations come with no public funding for curriculum or materials.

Homeschool tax breaks and funding in Maryland

When a home-instructed child applies to enroll in public school, the local superintendent decides placement and any credits toward high school graduation through an evaluation. The evaluation may include standardized tests, examinations, and an interview with your child. This applies on both supervision routes.

Contact your school system for its transfer steps, and tell the superintendent or your supervising school that your child's status has changed. Bring the portfolio and any transcript; they are the evidence the evaluation looks at besides tests.

If a portfolio review leads the superintendent to find that your child is not receiving regular, thorough instruction, the superintendent must tell you in writing what the deficiencies are. You then have 30 days from receiving that notice to show that each deficiency has been or is being corrected.

If the superintendent decides there is no satisfactory plan to correct a deficiency, or it is not corrected, your child must be enrolled promptly in a public or nonpublic school. The same applies if a parent does not sign the consent form. A school system may not impose requirements beyond the regulations, so you can decline requests the rules do not contain.