JEG-R

File: JEG-R  (pdf)
Issued: August 27, 1992  
Revised:  June 12, 2002

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EXCLUSIONS AND EXEMPTIONS FROM SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
(Home-Based Education) 

Any parent establishing a nonpublic home-based educational program shall provide written notification to a school district within the state at least 14 days prior to the start of said program.  The letter of intent requires the parent in charge and in control of the home-based educational program to certify the name, age, place of residence, and number of hours of attendance of each child to be enrolled in the program.  A new letter of intent is needed for each school year thereafter in which the home-based educational program is to be maintained.

A home-based educational program must possess the following attributes, pursuant to Colorado statute:

1. Present a sequential program of instruction;
    
2. Take place in a home;
    
3. Be provided by the child's parent or by an adult relative of the child designated by the parent;
    
4. Include no less than 172 days of instruction, averaging four instructional contact hours per day;
    
5. Include, but not be limited to, communication skills of reading, writing, and speaking, mathematics, history, civics, literature, science, and regular courses of instruction in the constitution of the United States.

The guidelines for participation in home-based educational programs, as specified in statute and as applied in the School District, include the following:

1. Each child residing within the boundaries of the School District and participating in a non-public home-based educational program shall be evaluated when he or she reaches the equivalent age for grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11.  
   
   The test results will be submitted to the office of the Deputy Superintendent or to an independent or parochial school within Colorado.  If the test results are submitted to an independent or parochial school, the name of the school must be provided to the office of the Deputy Superintendent.
   
   If the composite score is at or below the national thirteenth percentile, the child shall be given the opportunity to be retested using an alternative version of the same test or a different nationally standardized achievement test selected by the parent from a list of approved tests supplied by the State Board of Education.  If the composite score on the retest is still at or below the national thirteenth percentile, or if the parent has not opted to have the child retested, the child is no longer exempt from the compulsory attendance laws and must be required to enroll in the School District or in a private school at least until the next testing period.
    
2. The records of each child participating in a home-based educational program shall be maintained on a permanent basis by the parent.  Such records must include, at a minimum, attendance data, test and evaluation results, and immunization records.  If the Superintendent or designee has probable cause to believe that the program is not in compliance with the statutory guidelines, he or she may give the parent at least 14 days' written notice to produce the records.
    
3. The parent of a child participating in a home-based educational program will be notified by the Deputy Superintendent in the event the program does not satisfy the guidelines for exemption from compulsory school attendance.
    
4. The local principal shall determine the appropriate grade placement upon reenrollment of a student previously enrolled in a home-based educational program.  In making this determination, the principal may consider documentation presented of the student's progress while in the home-based educational program, the results of any tests administered for this purpose, and any other pertinent information available.

Extra-Curricular Activities

Students in home-based educational programs may participate in any extracurricular or interscholastic activity in which the district is involved so long as the student maintains eligibility, except as to class attendance requirements, in accordance with applicable law, requirements of the district, and the Colorado High School Activities Association. Students are responsible for contacting the district or appropriate school to determine when practices will begin, and other relevant dates, as soon as possible prior to the beginning of the school year.

Habitually Truant Students

Any child who is habitually truant at any time during the last six months that the child attended school before proposed enrollment in a nonpublic home-based educational program may not be enrolled in the program unless the child's parents first submit a written description of the curricula to be used in the program along with the written notification of establishment of said program.  § 22-33-104.5(3)(b), C.R.S.

Part-Time Students

Students in a home-based educational program may apply for enrollment in classes offered by District schools while they are in home instruction.  Parents should request information and follow timelines for pre-registration at their neighborhood school.  To be eligible to participate, students in a home-based educational program must be enrolled and attending prior to October 1 in courses sufficient to be counted as a part-time student, which is 90 hours of instruction for the first semester.  (The formula is “minutes of instruction x number of days in first semester  :  60 = >90 hours.”)  Students in a home-based educational program may follow the District Open Enrollment Procedure to apply for enrollment in a school other than the neighborhood school for a minimum of 90 hours of instruction for the first semester, after applicants for full-time admission are accommodated,.  Approval will be subject to space availability, as determined by the District, to the other limitations for open enrollment, and to the satisfaction of any prerequisites and other applicable District or school requirements for a particular course.

End of File: JEG-R