Homeschooling in Nevada

You can start at the beginning of a school year or in the middle of it. The notice of intent is due before you begin homeschooling, and the law sets two outside limits: no later than 10 days after your child is formally withdrawn from public school, and no later than 30 days after your family moves to Nevada.

To leave public school, withdraw your child through the school's usual process and file the notice with your district's homeschool contact. The state publishes a list of district contacts, and districts may hand out only the state's standard form. Use a separate form for each child.

What the notice contains

• Your child's full name, age, and gender
• Each filing parent's name and address
• A signed, dated statement that you have legal charge of your child's education and take full responsibility for it
• The educational plan
• The Nevada public school your child last attended, if any
• An optional signed statement barring release of any information on the form without your written consent

The notice is a one-time filing. File again only after a name or address change, or if your child re-enters homeschooling after a period in public school.

Nevada requires no homeschool records. Keep the district's written acknowledgment: the law makes it proof that you meet the attendance law, and the district must keep its own copy for at least 15 years. The educational plan you filed is the one document a court may ask you to show.

The district's records about your homeschooled child are protected. It must process a written request for them within 5 days and may release them only to a person you name, to your child once 18, or where a statute requires it.

A few records of your own save time later:

• Entering a public high school
• Applying to college or the Millennium Scholarship
• Taking part in school activities

Nevada requires no tests of homeschoolers.

Every school district must let homeschooled children take the college entrance exams offered in the state, including the SAT, ACT, PSAT, and the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, and must post information about those exams on its website.

Tests can also come up on two other occasions: when your child enters a public high school, where a district exam is one way to show readiness, and when your child applies for the Millennium Scholarship, which sets a minimum test score for students who did not graduate from a Nevada high school.

Federal law requires each district to find and evaluate children with disabilities who live in it, a duty called Child Find, and Nevada law goes further for homeschoolers. Each district must provide special education and related services to homeschooled children who would otherwise qualify, in the same manner it serves students their parents place in private schools. Those students receive services through a services plan funded from the district's share of federal special education money.

Services may be given at a public school or another suitable location, and the district may first ask for your child's birth certificate or other proof of identity.

Nevada also opens public school classes. A district must let a homeschooled child take classes and join extracurricular activities other than sports at a public school if there is space and you show your child is qualified. That access, and the sports access described below, starts with a notice of intent to participate, kept current for each school year. The district does not have to provide transportation.

Nevada's graduation requirements and diplomas belong to public and private schools. The parent decides when a homeschooled student has finished high school and writes the transcript and diploma.

A homeschooled student who wants a public high school diploma must enroll. On initial enrollment in a public high school, the student shows completion of the courses required for promotion to high school in one of three ways: documentation from an accredited homeschool program the district recognizes, a district exam, or other proof the school board accepts.

For correspondence courses, a district must grant credit toward graduation when the course comes from a secondary institution accredited by one of the six regional associations the state regulation lists and matches a course the district offers. It may also grant credit for courses from institutions the State Board of Education approves, under its own policy.

Nevada's Governor Guinn Millennium Scholarship is open to homeschool graduates. A student who did not graduate from a public or private high school in Nevada, and has lived in the state for at least 2 years, qualifies through a minimum standardized test score or other criteria the Board of Regents sets.

High school students can take college courses by applying directly to a Nevada System of Higher Education college, which sets its own admission and placement rules for students under 18.

Homeschool dual enrollment in Nevada

Nevada law lets a homeschooled child play interscholastic sports governed by the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA). Your child plays for the public school they are zoned to attend, within your district of residence.

The same rules apply as for enrolled students, including eligibility, fees, insurance, physical exams, conduct, and discipline. A district or school may not set stricter eligibility rules for homeschoolers, and no one may challenge a game's result because a homeschooler played.

Homeschool sports eligibility in Nevada

Nevada has no state homeschool funding. Its Educational Choice Scholarship Program provides grants for students from households at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty level, but each grant is paid directly to the school the parent chooses, so it covers private school tuition, not a homeschool.

Homeschool tax breaks and funding in Nevada

A homeschooled child can return to a Nevada public school at any point in the year. The school may use only commonly used practices to decide the child's academic ability, placement, or eligibility, and it may not treat the child differently for having been homeschooled.

Entry into a public high school follows the promotion rule described above, and credit for high school courses follows the district's policy and the correspondence course rule.