Homeschool World Forum

[Catt35]

I was told by my school district's truancy officer that it is illegal for a parent to homeschool any of their children if even one of them has been to court for truancy. I haven't found anything in the Illinois Law that corroborates that fact and have asked and spoken to several different people and organizations about it, and no one knows anything about it. Then, duh...lol...it dawned on me to call the public defender that represented my son in his case to ask him. I have to wait until Monday to speak with him, but I am hoping that he will know if it's true or not and will let everyone here know when I find out. IT seems as if this is a new issue in homeschooling so I wanted everyone to know what I find out in case anyone else ever encounters the same problem.

Will keep everyone up to date on what I find out,
Cassy

[Catt35]

I just called the truancy officer here....what a mistake that was. I wanted to ask her why she told my daughter it is illegal for me to homeschool my children....and she argued with every single thing I had to say. This woman is nuts. She told me things about homeschooling that I had never heard before and can't possibly be true. I already researched into the Illinois laws for homeschooling and it says nothing at all about having to legally register a set curriculum with the state. That is one of the things she told me I have to do. And she also said that if I do homeschool it is the law that I get regular visits from her to see if we are truly homeschooling. At one point I told her, "I cannot believe you are arguing with me about wanting what's best for my children-emotionally as well as educationally." I feel as if my children are not really my children anymore...but the governments. It's scaring me.

[Theodore]

You do have to get your homeschool plan approved by the local school if you want to use it for sports, as per IHSA rules, but aside from that, there are no other requirements beyond a written statement:

http://www.illinoishouse.org/a09.htm
http://www.chec.cc/Law/law.html
http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?State=IL

The truancy officer obviously doesn't know the law, or is choosing to ignore it.
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[w0mbat]

Always do your own research, trusting exactly what a truancy officer has to say is like trusting that the bank teller knows all the rules of the bank.

you will be fine, just make sure you look up everything and have notes infront of you with points if this truancy would like to argue again.

Cheers
Matt
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[bobbinsx5]

[Lauria]

One link from Illinois on the HSLDA:

http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/il/200601030.asp

Did they provide the correct notice to your family?