CHEYENNE – A bill that would eliminate the requirement to submit homeschool curriculum to local school boards passed the House Education Committee on Friday.
There are currently 11 states in the U.S. with little to no regulation for homeschool education, according to the U.S. Career Institute. In Wyoming, current state law requires a homeschool parent or guardian to submit a letter of intent and curriculum to the local school board each year.
House Bill 46, “Homeschool freedom act,” sponsored by Rep. Tomi Strock, R-Douglas, removes that requirement. She also confirmed in a text message to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle that parents would not be responsible for notifying the school district of their intent to homeschool their child.
Rep. Tomi Strock
Rep. Tomi Strock, R-Douglas, speaks during a meeting of the House Revenue Committee at the Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne on Jan. 19, 2023.
During the meeting, Strock said her intent behind the bill is to give parents the right to homeschool their children without government interference.
There was little to no opposition from the public or state agencies to this bill. However, a few stakeholders highlighted some concerns with how the state would ensure homeschool children are still receiving a proper education.
Department of Family Services Director Korin Schmidt said the bill creates “a little bit of a complication” for her department, since it investigates reports of educational neglect. These reports are made for children who are assumed to be going to public school, she said.
Schmidt, Korin (2021, Wyoming DFS director)
Korin Schmidt
A case manager from DFS will approach the family and ask why the child is absent. If the family claims the child is homeschooled, the case manager can verify this information with the local school district.
“Without having some way for us to verify that the homeschooling is, in fact, meeting the requirements … it’ll be very difficult for us to make a determination of educational neglect,” Schmidt said.
She added that educational neglect cases are small in number, with an average of 50 reported each year statewide, and approximately 25 of those are determined to be actual neglect. There are some situations where a family truly does not want to educate their child, Schmidt said.
“What we would propose is just some consideration to allow the schools to verify the curriculum, if requested,” Schmidt said. “We have authority under the current statute to be able to investigate these cases. This (bill) is just something that may make that a little more complicated.”
Rep. Laurie Bratten, R-Sheridan, asked Schmidt if DFS personnel could ask the family being investigated to provide the curriculum. Schmidt responded that case workers lack the expertise to verify if the curriculum meets compulsory education standards.
House Judiciary Committee meeting
Rep. Laurie Bratten, R-Sheridan, listens during a House Judiciary Committee meeting at the Capitol on Friday in Cheyenne.
“We could potentially take that curriculum … to the school and ask for their opinion,” Schmidt said. “That puts the school in a difficult position, as well, under the proposed statute.”
Reps. Martha Lawley, R-Worland, and Tom Kelly, R-Sheridan, said they failed to see the nexus between submitting homeschool curriculum to the school board and caseworkers’ ability to verify a child is being homeschooled.
“It seems to me the educational neglect goes toward the public education system,” Lawley said. “I’m reading the statute right here, and it seems to be connected with public school attendance.”
Lawley added this statute, as she interpreted it, only applied to chronically absent public school students and not necessarily the homeschool environment.
“I see what you’re getting at, but I don’t find you have the authority under this provision,” Lawley said.
Schmidt answered that a child not going to public school who is found to be homeschooled is not considered educational neglect. She said she is concerned there are families who will claim their child is homeschooled, but are “using it as an out.”
“Are we sure that they are legitimately interested in homeschooling their children?” Schmidt said. She added the verification process is a tool in those investigations. Without it, it would be much harder to investigate those cases.
Rep. McKay Erickson, R-Afton
Rep. McKay Erickson, R-Afton
The bill passed through the committee on a vote of 8-1, with the lone “no” vote from Rep. McKay Erickson, R-Afton. It will now go before the committee of the whole for further debate in the House of Representatives.