Louisiana Education Code For Homeschooling
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Compulsory attendance - Between 7 and 17 years of age.
Teacher certification required? - No
You may choose to submit examination scores or use a portfolio
under the home-study option. If you use the private school option
to homeschool there is no testing or portfolio review of any
kind.
Required number of days per year - 180
Louisiana Education Code: Sections Relevant
to Homeschoolers
LA. R.S. 17:11 Approval of Private
Schools By Board
A. The board shall adopt standards and
guidelines which shall be applied in determining whether a private
or proprietary school applying for approval meets the requirements
of a sustained curriculum or specialized course of study of quality
at least equal to that prescribed for similar public schools.
The board shall appoint an advisory committee of private and
proprietary school representatives, who shall advise and counsel
with the board relative to standards and guidelines affecting
these schools. After initial approval the board shall periodically
determine whether the private school is maintaining such quality
and if not, shall discontinue approval of the school.
B. The board shall approve any private
elementary, secondary, or proprietary school which makes application
therefor on a form furnished by the board, if such school meets
and maintains a sustained curriculum or specialized course of
study of quality at least equal to that prescribed for similar
public schools.
C. All certificates and diplomas issued
by an approved private school shall carry the same privileges
as one issued by a state public school.
Attorney General Opinion 77-479 of
March 21, 1977 Board of Elementary and Secondary Education can
not either approve or disapprove any nonpublic schools on basis
of criteria contained in regulations and standards applicable
to public schools. Board may only evaluate private schools on
the single consideration of whether the sustained curriculum
of a private school is of quality at least equal to that of similar
public schools.
Attorney General Opinion 89-321 of
May 23, 1989 affirmed AG op. 77-479 and further stated that Board
can not either approve or disapprove any nonpublic school on
the basis of an exit exam.
LA. R.S. 17:236 Definition of a School
For the purposed of the Chapter, a school
is defined as an institution for the teaching of children consisting
of an adequate physical plant, whether owned or leased, instructional
staff members, and students. For such an institution to be classified
as a school, within the meaning of this Chapter, instructional
staff members shall meet the following requirements: if a public
day school or a nonprofit school which receives local, state,
or federal funds or support, directly or indirectly, they shall
be certified in accordance with rules established by the Board
of Elementary and Secondary Education; if a nonpublic school
which receives no local, state, or federal funds or support,
directly or indirectly, they shall meet such requirements as
may be prescribed by the school or the church. In addition, any
such institution, to be classified as a school, shall operate
a minimum session of not less than one hundred eighty (180) days.
Solely for purposes of compulsory attendance in a nonpublic school,
a child who participates in a home study program approved by
the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education shall be considered
in attendance at a day school; a home study program shall be
approved if it offers a sustained curriculum of a quality at
least equal to that offered by public schools at the same grade
level.
LA. R.S. 17:221 Subpart C. School
Attendance
A. (1) Every parent, tutor, or other
person residing within the state of Louisiana, having control
or charge of any child from that child's seventh (7th) birthday
until his seventeenth (17th) birthday, shall send such child
to a public or private day school, unless the child graduates
from high school prior to his seventeenth birthday. Any child
below the age of seven (7) who legally enrolls in school shall
also be subject to the provision of this Subpart. Every parent,
tutor, or other person responsible for sending a child to a public
or private day school under provisions of this Subpart shall
also assure the attendance of such child in regularly assigned
classes during regular school hours established by the school
board.
LA. R.S. 17:225 Minimum Attendance
Required
The minimum session of attendance required
under this Sub-part shall be one hundred eighty (180) days, or
the full session of the public school which the child would normally
attend.
LA. R.S. 17:236.1 Approval of Home
Study Programs
A. A parent or legal guardian shall
apply to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for
approval of a home study program. An initial application must
be made within fifteen (15) days after commencement of the program.
A renewal application must be made by the first (1st) of October
of the school year, or within twelve months of approval of the
initial application, whichever is later. The Board of Elementary
and Secondary Education, upon receipt of such initial or renewal
application, shall immediately notify the city or parish school
superintendent within whose jurisdiction the home study is being
conducted of such application and also shall notify said superintendent
of subsequent actions taken by the board on the application.
B. An initial application for participation
in a home study program shall be accompanied by a certified copy
of the birth certificate of the child. The initial application
or, during the 1984-85 school year, a renewal application, shall
be approved if the parent certifies that the home study program
will offer a sustained curriculum of quality at least equal to
that offered by public schools at the same grade level.
C. (1) After the 1984-85 school year,
a renewal application for participation in a home study program
shall be approved if the parent submits the the board satisfactory
evidence that the program has in fact offered a sustained curriculum
of quality at least equal to that offered by public schools at
the same grade level. To substantiate this fact, the parent shall
submit with the renewal application a packet of material which
includes such documents as:
(a) A complete outline of each of the
subjects taught during the previous year,
(b) Lists of books and materials used,
(c) Copies of the student's work,
(d) Copies of standardized tests,
(e) Statements by third parties who have observed the child's
progress, and
(f) Any other evidence of the quality of the program being offered.
(2) If the material submitted is inadequate,
the Department of Education shall notify the parent of the deficiencies
and request additional materials.
(3) On the basis of all the information submitted, the Board
of Elementary and Secondary Education shall determine whether
the program offers a sustained curriculum of quality at least
equal to that offered in public schools at the same grade level
and shall approve or disapprove the application accordingly.
D. After the 1984-85 school year, a
renewal application shall be approved if, in lieu of submission
of the packet of materials provided in the previous Subsection,
the parent submits with the application any one of the following:
(1) Verification that the child has
taken the competency-based education examination provided in
R.S. 17:24.4 and scored at or above the passing level established
by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for public
school students at his grade level.
(2) Verification that the child has
taken the California Achievement Test (CAT) or such other standardized
examination as may be approved by the Board and the child has
scored at or above his grade level or the child has progressed
at a rate equal to one grade level for each year in home study
program.
(3) A statement from a teacher certified
to teach at the child's grade level that the teacher has
examined the program being offered and that, in this professional
opinion, the child is being taught in accordance with a sustained
curriculum of quality at least equal to that offered by public
schools at the same grade level or, in the case of children with
mental or physical disabilities, at least equal to that offered
by public schools to children with similar disabilities. Any
such teacher's evaluation provided for in the Subsection shall
be subject to review and approval of the State Board of Education.
E. (1) In May and September of each
year and on such other dates as may be determined by the city
or parish superintendent of schools, the local school board shall,
upon request of a parent whose child is participating in a home
study program, administer the competency-based education examination
to the child. The test shall be administered with the same instructions
and under similar conditions as provided children enrolled in
the public schools.
(2) The local school board may charge
a fee for this service not the exceed thirty-five ($35.00) dollars.
(3) The certified teacher administering the examination shall
promptly provide the parent a statement indicating the child's
score and whether he passed the examination.
F. (1) In May and September of each
year and on such other dates as may be determined by the state
superintendent of elementary and secondary education the Department
of Education shall upon the request of the parent, administer
the competency-based education examination to any child enrolled
in a home study program for enrolled in a private school. The
test shall be administered with the same instructions and under
similar conditions as provided children enrolled in the public
schools.
(2) The Department of Education may
charge a fee for this service not to exceed thirty-five ($35.00)
dollars.
(3) The certified teacher administering the examination shall
promptly provide the parent a statement indicating the child's
score and whether he passed the examination.
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