The overall goal is to significantly reduce the reporting paperwork for the superintendent, not increase any requirements for the Department of Education (MDE), save the state appropriations and reduce needless reporting by homeschool families. With these changes a family essentially reports once to the school district of their intent to home educate when they start.
1. Students under under age 7 - Amend 120A.22 subdivisions 6. This clarifies the statutes requiring all first-graders to be subject to the compulsory attendance age law. These are the changes requested by elementary school principles, which was a compromise we worked out with them last year.
2. Homeschool assessments - Amend 120A.22 subdivisions 11. These changes remove the superintendent from the role of overseeing the national norm referenced standardized achievement examination process. It also allows families to use the ACT and SAT to meet this requirement. The changes also remove arbitrary statutory requirements regarding the battery scores. Parents are more than capable of determining when their children need additional educational assessment without the need for the state statutes to tell them.
3. Simplified report to superintendent - Amend 120A.24. These changes would simply require a parent to notify the school district only once as opposed to annually and remove all other reporting requirements of the superintendent. Districts should know if a family is homeschooling in order to be informed, but repeated reports do little other than create needless paperwork for the districts. The changes would give the superintendent more time to submit the required report to MDE and requires significantly less information. The family would also have to give notice to superintendent if they move out of the district and provide notice to the new district.
4 and 12. Removing superintendent from prosecution duty - Amend 120A.26 subdivisions 1 - 3. This section read with the repealer will take the superintendent out of the prosecution business. The county attorney could still get a report from a superintendent, truancy officer or social worker, but the superintendent is not the one who must do all initial prosecution.
5. Maintains mediation option - Amend 120A.26 subdivision 4. The MDE will still be required to do a mediation and fact-finding as they presently are required to do. Such a process reduces the need to have formal prosecution. Having diversion style mediations like this in minor prosecutions is a common practice and should be maintained.
6. Technical change on notice parents - Amend 120A.26 subdivision 4. Again takes a superintendent out of the prosecution role and requires the MDE mediator to communicate directly with the county attorney.
7 and 8. Immunization- Amend 121A.15. These changes remove the responsibility of the school district to maintain immunization records on homeschool families as is the case now for those enrolled in online courses. The sections also clarify that if a student enrolled in one course, extracurricular activities or co-curricular activities they must file immunization records with the school district and that the school district must maintain those records just like any other student enrolled in school.
9. Nonpublic school aid - Amend 123B.42. This section would be savings for the state budget by eliminating non-public school aid for schools with less than 15 students; essentially homeschools. This is the biggest reporting headache and creates the most conflict between school districts and homeschool families. Only a small percentage of families use this aid. Given the state's budget crisis, it is time to do away with this small and burdensome program.
10. Drivers education - Amend 171.05. This section removes the requirement that the superintendent must certify a student is homeschooled. Parents are more than capable of making a certification. Presently the Minnesota Department of Revenue allows parents to certify their homeschool status for sales tax purposes without having to bother the superintendent.
11. Employment of minors - Amend 181A.05. This section would allow parents and private school administrators, instead of the superintendent, to provide employers with the needed employment certificate for minors ages 14 and 15 working during school hours.