Truly 'Public' Schools Open to Homeschoolers
Pennsylvania's Home School Law requires that school districts, if requested, must give homeschoolers textbooks and health services, but allows each school district to decide whether to permit homeschoolers access to public school classes and activities.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) recently issued statistics reporting for the first time on the number of school districts that allow homeschoolers to participate in curricular and extra-curricular activities for 1999-2000.
A remarkable 228 districts out of 501 across Pennsylvania allow participation in extra-curricular activities and 222 allow limited curricular participation. This issue, particularly for allowing homeschoolers access to sports, has been controversial for many years since the 1988 enactment of the Home School Law. The law requires that school districts if requested must give homeschoolers textbooks and health services, but allows each school district to decide whether to permit homeschoolers access to public school classes and activities. Current Senate Bill 358 and House Bill 1098 are pending, however, which would mandate that all districts allow access to homeschoolers.
Palmyra School District
Homeschooling parents have petitioned their school boards to enact favorable policies towards homeschoolers. Debra Bell, a homeschooling mother of four, successfully lobbied the Palmyra School District in 1994 to enact an inclusive policy. Her sons had reached junior high and expressed an interest to play sports on a competitive level. She lobbied the school board to allow participation based on state requirements for Pennsylvanian homeschoolers.
"My argument was that homeschoolers must report to the local school district and submit substantial documentation; so that did make us a part of the district at some level. Asking for services in return for our submission to local accountability didn't seem an unreasonable request."
In other words, since homeschoolers must yearly submit an affidavit stating the parent’ s intent to educate their children in compliance with the Pennsylvania home school law, objectives for each subject, and a portfolio documenting progress in each subject area, this places homeschoolers under the jurisdiction of the local school district. Homeschoolers are thus a part of the local school district although they are not regularly enrolled.
The Palmyra School Board was concerned about how homeschoolers would demonstrate academic eligibility. "Our district’s policy requires athletes to be passing all subjects weekly," Bell said in Pennsylvania Homeschoolers. "A lot of kids do end up ineligible and the board felt parents and teachers could contend that homeschool students have an easier time getting passing grades weekly from one teacher (mom), than public school kids do from seven or eight different teachers."
To respond to the boards’ concern, Bell drafted a weekly form to record academic progress. Included in this form were places for grades, quizzes, tests, books read, projects, and assignments. Dr. Brian Small, the superintendent at the time, was impressed because it provided not only a letter grade but work the student completed. Bell also agreed to bring in her sons’ daily logbooks and portfolios if there was a cause for concern.
"We accepted a standard that was far higher than the standard for eligibility for the regularly enrolled students. But, by agreeing to this, and then through the district's regular interaction with my kids and other homeschool kids, officials realized there was little basis for concern. These were good kids who did not take this privilege for granted. In fact, my sons ended up being elected captains of most of the teams they played on," Bell said.
Because of the strict Pennsylvania homeschool law, Bell also pointed out, it is highly unlikely that homeschoolers could use a home education program to circumvent academic eligibility, which is a frequently raised objection in other school districts. In addition to the affidavit, objectives, and portfolio that homeschoolers must submit to the superintendent, students must also pass an evaluation to check academic progress each year from a state-certified evaluator and take standardized tests in third, fifth, and eighth grade. In fact, Pennsylvania’s home school requirements are the second most strict in the country. "Lackadaisical parents and students just couldn't pull off this charade," Bell said.
Bell requested a trial year for her children to prove themselves and see if any abuses occurred. The Palmyra School Board granted their request and amended their policy to allow homeschool participation, and since the abuses never occurred the policy remained intact. Bell, now after seven years, said the experience has been a positive one for her family and the community. "Many, many people—coaches, administration, teachers, board members and fans—personally expressed appreciation to our sons for their contribution to the school's athletic program." Dr. Elke Blackburn, current superintendent of Palmyra, agreed. "So far everything has worked well with homeschoolers participating in extra-curricular activities."
Easton Area School District
Ingrid Wakeman, a homeschooling mother of three, also successfully lobbied her school district when Kelly, her 14-year-old daughter, could no longer participate on the township soccer team, and wanted to continue play on the high school team. At first, the Easton Area School Board voted twice not to allow access. Like Palmyra, the Easton Area School Board wanted to know how the Wakemans would demonstrate good grades and thus academic eligibility. They were dubious that homeschoolers were receiving a quality education.
The Wakemans contacted the school board members and discussed with them their home education program and the rigorous homeschool requirements. A local newspaper, in support of the Wakemans, featured a story about Kelly, noting her academic achievements and excellent education she was receiving at home. The article commended Kelly’s articulation and self-awareness, noticing she was an above average 14-year-old.
The article also noted that the 43 homeschoolers in the Easton Area School District all do well on the standardized tests, which is a trend not unique to Easton. Howard Richman, president of Pennsylvania Homeschoolers, a state homeschooling organization which conducts standardized testing, reported that homeschoolers do consistently well on these tests. Homeschooled seniors, according to a 1999 Pennsylvania Homeschoolers report, performed well above their school-educated counterparts. Many homeschoolers have become national-merit semifinalists, and have done well in the National Spelling Bee and National Geography Bee. The Easton School Board called another meeting and reversed their prior decisions.
Tom Kopetskie, Director of Pupil Services for the Easton Area School District, reported that there have been no problems with students demonstrating academic eligibility. "We have not had a situation occur where somebody was trying to take advantage of it," he said. Kopetskie, who has examined homeschooled students’ portfolios, said "Close to 98-99 percent of them are really of high quality." He said, "I have no concerns about those students being eligible for athletics." Kopetskie also commented that Easton Area School District is working well with homeschoolers. "I think we have an excellent relationship with the homeschooling parents."
PIAA Allows Homeschool Participation
Tthe reason that school districts are concerned about demonstrating academic eligibility is because of their school’s affiliation with the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA), which has strict academic requirements for students. In 1995, a federal judge in Pittsburgh upheld the school board’s decision to deny Jeremy McNatt of Dawson to participate in public school sports. The school board thought homeschool participation might jeopardize the school’s affiliation with the PIAA because they could not verify grades and attendance.
PIAA, however, after a notice was issued from PDE in 1992, amended its by-laws to grant homeschoolers access to PIAA sponsored sports. The by-laws of PIAA now state that "…A student participating in a home education program…may be declared by the Board of School Directors of the school district in which the tutoring instruction or home education program is operating to be eligible at the school which the student would otherwise attend by virtue of his residence." Thus, PIAA permits access as long as the local school district has an inclusive policy.
Other homeschooling families have worked with their school boards to change the no-access policy. In August of 1993, the Canton Area School Board (in Bradford County, Pa.) voted not to let homeschoolers participate in high school sports. This decision barred Ross Bird, a 16-year-old homeschooled junior, from playing on the football team. After calls from citizens who were in favor of permitting Ross to play and due to the efforts of James and Janice Ross, his parents, the board called another emergency meeting. James and Janice gave evidence of other school districts that allowed participation and convinced the school board to reverse their decision. An editorial in the Canton Independent Sentinel commented: "It is nice to see a contentious issue decided without injecting national interest group politics into it. We all gained knowledge from this discussion, and we believe it served to draw our community closer together."
Pauline Harding, a mother who homeschooled her son for three years before sending him to public school, addressed the Penn Delco School Board when they were considering enacting a policy to restrict access to homeschoolers. Harding said in the Pennsylvania Homeschoolers newsletter, "I shared stories of homeschoolers receiving services without putting a burden on the system, and examples of homeschoolers ‘giving back’ by being involved. Homeschooling parents have coached sports teams, ran Junior Great Books clubs, and so on."
She too acknowledged possible problems. "I recognized that there may be concerns ('strangers' in the building, tardiness, behavior issues, etc.) but noted that most of these could be addressed with common sense and respect on both sides." The high school principal raised issues such as academic eligibility, but Harding showed her the weekly forms Bell used and the principal was also impressed. Due to Harding’s efforts, the school board decided not to pass the policy denying services to homeschoolers. Although their school policy does not give homeschoolers a right to services it does not flatly deny them either.
The Cyber Charter Option
Cyber charter schools may bring a new element to school access debate. Edward Bailes, who homeschools his five children in the Middletown Area School District, attempted to change the district’s current no-access policy towards homeschoolers. Since the Middletown Area School Board did not bring the issue to vote, thus keeping their no-access policy, Bailes decided to enroll his children in a charter cyber-schools. Bailes, who originally intended on enrolling only two of his children, decided to enroll all five when he found out more about the benefits of the charter cyber-school.
"It gives us most of the parental advantages of home schooling as well as the resources and logistics of the public schools," Bailes said. The school district now must foot the bill for their enrollment in the charter cyber-school and also must give access to sports and other extra-curricular activities. "Now that charter schools are making it possible for enrolled homeschoolers to play on district athletic teams, I would hope school boards would see it is in their best interest to just let them play. It will cost them less," Debra Bell said.
More Districts May Soon Change
Although there are many school districts that do not allow homeschoolers access, with school districts such as Palmyra and Easton leading the way, changes may soon come. Homeschooling is a growing trend, with an estimated 850,000 homeschoolers in the nation according to a recently released study by the U.S. Education Department. As more parents decided to homeschool their children, school districts will inevitably need to evaluate their policy towards homeschoolers.
The best situation is when homeschoolers respectfully petition the school board and work together with them to address their concerns. Bell, commenting on her experience, said, "Our school board was very open-minded and their concerns just grew out of unfamiliarity with the homeschool community. To their credit, they invited homeschool parents to participate in the whole process. We were able to then address their concerns one by one and come up with a policy together."
Howard Richman is optimistic about other school districts allowing access. He said in Pennsylvania Homeschoolers, "I am convinced that the battle for homeschool participation can be won in almost any district where homeschoolers mount a persistent lobbying effort, educate school board members about friendly policies in other districts, and where homeschooled students speak to the hearts of the board members."
Joey McKeown of Middletown, Pa., is a senior at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, Calif., and was formerly homeschooled.
Copyright © 2001, Pennsylvania Family Institute.
Reprinted with permission.
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