Spring 2008

Mason County — A parent in the process of withdrawing her 7^th grader from school called WVHEA seeking help. Initially the Board of Education (BOE) told the parent that she couldn't withdraw her child from school until she met with the principal to discuss the boy's problems. 

WVHEA assured her that the law does not require the parent to discuss the child’s problems with any school official prior to withdrawing the child to homeschool.

The parent also reported that the BOE had told her she couldn't use the same textbooks the schools use; they offered her some old textbooks for her son. A State Superintendent’s interpretation on textbooks for homeschoolers requires county school systems to provide textbooks for the homeschooled child, just as if the student were enrolled in public school.

WVHEA emailed Karen Larry, who informed the county homeschool contact that the books for homeschoolers are the same books the students would use if they were in the classrooms. Dr. Larry faxed the State Superintendent’s interpretation on this policy for verification.