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State Laws and Regulations - Hawaii
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Welcome to homeschooling in Hawaii! We encourage you to discuss the laws and regulations regarding home education with other homeschoolers who live in your state, and especially with those who are knowledgeable about the homeschooling climate in your local community.
Homeschooling laws and regulations vary from state to state; there is no federal authority for all laws and regulations which can affect homeschooling.
Each parent who chooses to homeschool their children in Hawaii takes on a responsibility to familiarize themselves with the specific laws and regulations which affect homeschooling families in their state.
There are many good resources for help, beginning with the homeschool support groups, organizations, listservs, websites and helpful individuals. To find out more visit the Support Groups section of this web site.
Please Note: This is not intended to be legal advice and is distributed for informational purposes only. For more information about the laws and regulations in this state please contact a state or local support group.
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Hawaii State Legislature
Chapter 12, Compulsory Attendance
Exceptions
----------------------------------------------------------------------
¤8-12-6
12-3
12-1
HAWAII ADMINISTRATIVE RULES
TITLE 8
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
SUBTITLE 2
EDUCATION
PART 1 PUBLIC
SCHOOLS
CHAPTER
12
COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE
EXCEPTIONS
¤8-12-1 Purpose
¤8-12-2
Definitions
¤8-12-3
Applicability
¤8-12-4 Conditions for
exceptions
¤8-12-5 Procedures for exceptions due
to handicapping conditions
¤8-12-6 Procedures
for exceptions due to employment
¤8-12-7
Procedures for exceptions due to family court order
¤8-12-8 Procedures for exceptions for alternative educational programs,
other than home schooling
¤8-12-9 Testing and
progress reports of children excepted for alternative educational programs,
other than home schooling
¤8-12-10 Instructional
personnel of alternative educational programs, other than home
schooling
¤8-12-11 High school diploma,
alternative education programs, other than home
schooling
¤8-12-12 College entrance examination,
alternative education
¤8-12-13 Notification of
intent to home school
¤8-12-14 Required
statutory services
¤8-12-15 Record of
curriculum¤8-12-2
12-2
¤8-12-16 Notification of termination of home
schooling
¤8-12-17 Educational
neglect
¤8-12-18 Testing and progress reports of
home-schooled children
¤8-12-19 Instructional
personnel of home-schooled children
¤8-12-20
Credits
¤8-12-21 High school diploma for
home-schooled children¤8-12-1
12-2
¤8-12-22 College entrance examination and home-schooled
children
¤8-12-4
¤8-12-1
Purpose. The
department has a legitimate interest in and the responsibility for the
appropriate education of all school age children in the State of Hawaii. It is
the purpose of this chapter to implement the compulsory attendance exceptions of
¤302A-1132, Hawaii Revised Statutes. Implementing the compulsory attendance law
is not intended to violate the rights and convictions of parents to home school
or otherwise except their child from compulsory attendance. Finally, home
schooling is not considered a school initiated educational alternative and is
not to be used by a school as a means for releasing students with behavior or
disciplinary problems or students lacking credits to graduate from the local
public school. [Eff. 11/7/91; am and comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS ¤¤302A-1112,
302A-1132) (Imp: HRS ¤302A-1132)
¤8-12-2
Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
"Alternative
educational program" means an educational program, in a non-school setting other
than home schooling, which addresses the standards identified in the Hawaii
Content and Performance Standards.
"Department"
means the department of education.
"Employment"
means suitable, lawful full-time employment of a minimum of forty hours per
week.
"Home schooling" means a viable
educational option where a parent instructs the parent's own
child.
"Local public school" means the school
the child would be enrolled in if the child was not excepted from compulsory
school attendance.
"Parent" means the natural or
legal parent, guardian or other legal custodian of
child.
"School age child" means a child who will
have arrived at the age of at least six years, and who will not have arrived at
the age of eighteen years on or before December 31 of any school
year.
"Tutoring" means an alternative
educational program where an individual other than the parent instructs a child.
[Eff. 11/7/91; am and comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS ¤¤302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS
¤302A-1132)¤8-12-5
12-3
¤8-12-3
Applicability.
The provisions of this chapter apply to all school age children residing in the
State of Hawaii. [Eff. 11/7/91; comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS ¤302A-1112) (Imp: HRS
¤¤302A-1112, 302A-1132)¤8-12-8
12-5
12-4
¤8-12-4
Conditions for
exceptions. School age children may be
excepted from compulsory school attendance in the following
cases:
(1) Where a child is physically or
mentally unable to attend school, except for deafness and blindness, of which
fact the certificate of a duly licensed physician shall be sufficient
evidence;
(2) Where any child who has reached
the fifteenth anniversary of birth is suitably and lawfully
employed;
(3) Where a family court judge has
approved withdrawal from school;
(4) Where the
superintendent of education or designee has approved an appropriate, alternative
educational program, other than home schooling; and
(5) Where the parent of a school age child has provided notification of
intent to homeschool the child. [Eff. 11/7/91; comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS
¤¤302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS ¤302A-1132)
¤8-12-5 Procedures for exceptions due to disabilities. (a) A parent whose child is physically or mentally unable to attend
school, deafness and blindness excepted, shall complete and submit Form 4140,
Exceptions to Compulsory Education, to the local public
school.
(b) A parent whose child is physically
or mentally unable to attend school, deafness and blindness excepted, shall also
submit sufficient evidence of the identified disabilities to the local public
school. A certificate from a duly licensed physician shall be sufficient
evidence.
(c) The district superintendent may
approve withdrawal from school for exceptions due to identified
disabilities.
(d) Requests for exceptions due to
identified disabilities shall be renewed annually. [Eff. 11/7/91; am and comp
5/13/00] (Auth: HRS ¤¤302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS
¤302A-1132)¤8-12-6
12-4
¤8-12-6 Procedures for exceptions due to
employment. (a) A parent whose child has
reached the fifteenth anniversary of birth and is suitably and lawfully employed
shall complete and submit Form
4140, Exceptions
to Compulsory Education, to the local public school for the principal's
recommendation as to whether the exception should be granted. The form shall
then be submitted to the district superintendent for
approval.
(b) A family court judge may also
approve an exception due to employment.
(c) The
student to be exempted from attendance shall be employed full-time for a minimum
of forty hours per week.
(d) The student's
employer shall notify the school within three days if employment is terminated.
The student shall return to the school unless the student provides the principal
with verification of new employment. (e) Requests for exception due to
employment shall be renewed annually. [Eff. 11/7/91; am and comp 5/13/00] (Auth:
HRS ¤¤302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS ¤302A-1132)
¤8-12-7 Procedures for exceptions due to
family court order. (a) Approval for
exceptions due to family court order shall be authorized by a family court
judge.
(b) The approval of the family court
judge shall be obtained on Form 4140, Exceptions to Compulsory Education, and
submitted to the local public school.
(c)
Requests for an exception due to family court order shall be reviewed and
renewed annually. [Eff. 11/7/91; am and comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS ¤¤302A-1112,
302A-1132) (Imp: HRS ¤302A-1132)
¤8-12-8
Procedures for exceptions for alternative
educational programs, other than home schooling.
(a) The parent of a child requesting
a compulsory attendance exception for an alternative educational program other
than home schooling shall complete and submit Form 4140, Exceptions to
Compulsory Education, to the local public school.
(b) For purposes of this chapter, enrollment in a private school's home
study school program shall not be construed as equivalent to attendance at a
private school.¤8-12-8
12-5
(c) The parent requesting an exception under this section shall submit to
the local public school principal a planned curriculum for the child along with
the Form 4140. The curriculum shall be structured and based on educational
objectives as well as the needs of the child, be cumulative and sequential,
provide a range of up-to-date knowledge and needed skills, and take into account
the interests, needs and abilities of the child. The submittal shall include
the following:
(1) The commencement date and
ending date of the program;
(2) The number of
hours per week the child will spend in instruction which shall average
approximately three hours per school day;
(3)
The subject areas to be covered in the planned
curriculum:
(A) An elementary school curriculum
may include the areas of language arts, mathematics, social studies, science,
art, music, health and physical education 12-7
¤8-12-9
12-6
to
be offered at the appropriate development stage of the
child.
(B) A secondary school curriculum may
include the subject areas of social studies, English, mathematics, science,
health, physical education and guidance.
(4) The
method used to determine mastery of materials and subjects in the curriculum;
and
(5) A list of textbooks or other
instructional materials which will be used. The list shall be in standard
bibliographical format. For books, the author, title, publisher and date of
publication shall be indicated. For magazines the author, article title,
magazine, date, volume number and pages shall be
indicated.
(d) The superintendent or the
superintendent's designee may approve withdrawal from school where an
appropriate educational program other than home schooling is developed for the
child in accordance with the plans and policies of the
department.
(e) A request for an exception for
an alternative educational program other than home schooling shall be renewed
annually.
(f) Further exceptions to the
provisions of this chapter concerning a child's alternative educational program
may be granted by the superintendent upon the ¤8-12-8
12-6
written request of the parent and the recommendations of the principal
and the district superintendent. [Eff. 11/7/91; am and comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS
¤¤302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS ¤302A-1132)
¤8-12-9 Testing and progress reports of
children excepted for alternative educational programs, other than home
schooling. (a) Test scores are required for
grades identified in the Statewide Testing Program. A child is eligible and
required to participate in the Statewide Testing Program at the local public
school. Parents shall be responsible for securing necessary details from the
principal of the school. The parents may elect to arrange for private testing
at their own expense. The tests used shall be comparable to the appropriate
criterion or norm-referenced tests used by the department in the grades
concerned. The parents shall inform the school principal if private testing
will be used for purposes of this chapter.¤8-12-10
12-7
(b) A narrative
progress report and report card from the professional staff or tutor of a
child's alternative educational program shall be submitted by the family to the
local public school principal at the end of each school year. More frequent
progress reports may be requested by the principal.
(c) The narrative report shall include statements of progress in each of
the subject areas as well as development in social awareness and understanding
of self, understanding of the problems of the society and the culture, and
independence in learning. Copies of tests or assignments, if available, shall
be attached to the narrative report. Grades for courses shall be submitted.
The principal shall judge the adequacy of progress of a child. If progress is
not satisfactory, the principal shall meet with the parent to discuss the
problems and establish a plan for improvement.
(d) If progress is not satisfactory, the principal may recommend to the
district superintendent that the exception be
rescinded.
(e) The parent shall notify the
principal if the alternative educational program is terminated. The child shall
be re-enrolled in the local public school or licensed private school unless
satisfactory evidence of a new alternative educational program is presented
¤8-12-18
12-11
within five school days after the
termination of the former alternative educational program.¤8-12-12
12-7
(f) At the
discretion of the principal of the school, a child may be tested for placement
when entering or reentering public school. [Eff. 11/7/91; am and comp 5/13/00]
(Auth: HRS ¤¤302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS
¤302A-1132)
¤8-12-10
Instructional personnel of alternative
educational programs, other than home schooling.
(a) Instructional personnel in the
alternative educational program shall be qualified to provide appropriate
education to the child served.
(b) Professional
staff members or tutors, or both, providing instruction shall be persons who
have at a minimum earned a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or
university. Satisfactory evidence of the qualifications shall be presented to
the local school principal at the time Form 4140 is submitted. This evidence
shall include the following:12-11
(1)
Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of instructional
personnel;
(2) Place of employment, other than
the alternative educational program, if any; and
(3) Official transcripts verifying educational
background.
(c) Nonprofessional staff, for
example, teacher assistants, in the alternative educational program may assist
the professional staff but shall not have the full responsibility of instructing
the child. [Eff. 11/7/91; am and comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS ¤¤302A-1112,
302A-1132) (Imp: HRS ¤302A-1132)
¤8-12-11
High school diploma, alternative education
programs, other than home schooling.
(a) A child in an alternative
educational program other than home schooling who wants a high school diploma
shall comply with the requirements outlined in Department of Education
Regulation No. 4540.2, High School Graduation Through the Adult
Schools.
(b) The diploma shall be awarded by the
community school for adults. [Eff. 11/7/91; comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS
¤¤302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS ¤302A-1132)
¤8-12-12 College entrance examination,
alternative education. A child in an
alternative educational program may participate in any college entrance
examination which is made available to all other ¤8-12-12
12-8
students. [Eff. 11/7/91; comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS ¤¤302A-1112,
302A-1132) (Imp: HRS ¤302A-1132)
¤8-12-13
Notification of intent to home
school. (a) The parent shall provide the local
public school principal with a notice of intent to home educate the child before
initiating home schooling. The purpose of notification is to allow the
department, upon request of the parent, to assist in the educational efforts.
The notice of intent may be submitted on a department developed form (Form
4140) or in a letter containing the following items:
(1) Name, address, and telephone number of the
child;
(2) Birthdate and grade level of the
child; and
(3) Signature of the
parent.
(b) The notice of intent shall be
acknowledged by the principal and the district superintendent. The notice of
intent is for record keeping purposes and to ¤8-12-15
12-9
protect families from unfounded accusations of educational neglect or
truancy.
(c) If a child's annual progress report
has been submitted as stated in ¤8-12-18(b), notification of intent to home
school need not be resubmitted annually, except in cases where the child is
transferring from one local public school to another, for example, transition
from sixth grade to an intermediate school. Then the parents shall notify the
principal of the child's new local public school.
(d) The parent(s) submitting a notice to home school a child shall be
responsible for the child's total educational program including athletics and
other co-curricular activities. [Eff. 11/7/91; am and comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS
¤¤302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS ¤302A-1132)
¤8-12-14 Required statutory
services. All educational and related services
statutorily mandated shall be made available at the home public school site to
home-schooled children who have been evaluated and certified as needing
educational and related services and who request the services. [Eff. 11/7/91;
comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS ¤¤302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS
¤302A-1132)
¤8-12-15
Record of curriculum. The parent submitting a notice of intent to home school shall keep
¤8-12-17
12-9
a
record of the planned curriculum for the child. The curriculum shall be
structured and based on educational objectives as well as the needs of the
child, be cumulative and sequential, provide a range of up-to-date knowledge and
needed skills, and take into account the interests, needs and abilities of the
child. The record of the planned curriculum should include the
following:
(1) The commencement date and ending
date of the program;
(2) A record of the number
of hours per week the child spends in instruction;
(3) The subject areas to be covered in the planned
curriculum:
(A) An elementary school curriculum
may include the areas of language arts, mathematics, social studies, science,
art, music, health and physical education to be offered at the appropriate
development stage of the child;¤8-12-18
12-10
(B) A secondary school curriculum may include the subject areas of social
studies, English, mathematics, science, health, physical education and
guidance.
(4) The method used to determine
mastery of materials and subjects in the curriculum; and
(5) A list of textbooks or other instructional materials
which will be used. The list shall be in standard bibliographical format. For
books, the author, title, publisher and date of publication shall be indicated.
For magazines, the author, article title, magazine, date, volume number and
pages shall be indicated. [Eff. 11/7/91; comp 5/13/00]
(Auth: HRS ¤¤302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS
¤302A-1132)
¤8-12-16
Notification of termination of home
schooling. The parent shall notify the
principal if home schooling is terminated. A child shall be re-enrolled in the
local public school or licensed private school unless a new alternative
educational program is presented within five school days after the termination
of home schooling. [Eff. 11/7/91; comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS ¤¤302A-1112,
302A-1132) (Imp: HRS ¤302A-1132)
¤8-12-17
Educational neglect. If there is reasonable cause for the principal to believe that there
¤8-12-17
12-10
is educational neglect, the department in compliance with ¤302A-1132,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, shall intervene and take appropriate action in
accordance with established departmental procedures. Reasonable cause for
educational neglect shall not be based on the refusal of parents to comply with
any requests which exceed the requirements of this chapter. [Eff. 11/7/91; am
and comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS ¤¤302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS
¤302A-1132)
¤8-12-18
Testing and progress reports of home-schooled
children. (a) Test scores shall be required
for grades identified in the Statewide Testing Program, grades three, five,
eight, and ten. A child is eligible to participate in the Statewide Testing
Program at the local public school. The parent is responsible for securing
necessary details from the principal of the local public school. The parent may
elect to arrange for private testing at the parent's own expense. The tests used
shall be comparable to the appropriate criterion or norm-referenced tests used
by the department in the grades concerned. The parent may request and the
principal may approve other means of evaluation to meet the Statewide Testing
Program requirements.
(b) The parent shall
submit to the principal an annual report of a child's progress. The
following methods shall be used to demonstrate satisfactory
progress:
(1) A score on a nationally-normed
standardized achievement test which demonstrates grade level achievement
appropriate to a child's age;
(2) Progress on a
nationally-normed standardized achievement test that is equivalent to one grade
level per calendar year, even if the overall achievement falls short of grade
level standards;
(3) A written evaluation by a
person certified to teach in the State of Hawaii that a child demonstrates
appropriate grade level achievement or significant annual advancement
commensurate with a child's abilities; or
(4) A
written evaluation by the parent which shall include:
(A) A description of the child's progress in each subject area included
in the child's curriculum;¤8-12-21
12-11
(B) Representative samples of the child's work;
and
(C) Representative tests and assignments
including grades for courses if grades are given.
(c) When tests are administered under the Statewide Testing Program for
grades three, five, eight, and ten, the parent may choose to have the child
participate in the school's testing program and have the results serve as a
means of assessing annual progress for that year.
(d) The principal shall review the adequacy of a child's progress. If
progress is not adequate, the principal shall meet with the parent to discuss
the problems and help establish a plan for improvement. In this case, the
principal may request and the parents shall share their record of the child's
planned curriculum. When standardized test scores are used,
12-13
¤8-12-21
12-12
adequate progress shall be considered to be score/stanines in the upper
two thirds of the score/stanines. Unless progress is inadequate for two
consecutive semesters, based on a child's scores on a norm-referenced test for
that grade level or the written evaluation by a person certified to teach in the
State of Hawaii, recommendations to enroll the child in a public or private
school or to take legal action for educational neglect shall be prohibited. No
recommendations shall be made for a child before the third grade. [Eff. 11/7/91;
am and comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS ¤¤302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS
¤302A-1132)
¤8-12-19
Instructional personnel of home-schooled
children. A parent teaching the parent's child
at home shall be deemed a qualified instructor. [Eff. 11/7/91; comp 5/13/00]
(Auth: HRS ¤¤302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS
¤302A-1132)
¤8-12-20
Credits. No
course credits (Carnegie units) are granted for time spent being home-schooled.
[Eff. 11/7/91; comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS ¤¤302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS
¤302A-1132)
¤8-12-21
High school diploma for home-schooled
children. (a) A home-schooled child who wants
to earn a high school diploma from the local public high school shall attend
high school for a minimum of three full years and meet the credit requirements
for graduation. ¤8-12-21
12-12
Satisfactory performance on the Hawaii State Test of Essential
Competencies (HSTEC) is also required.
(b) A
home-schooled child who wants to earn a high school diploma from the community
school for adults shall meet the following
requirements:
(1) Be at least sixteen years of
age, except in the case of emancipated minors;
(2) Have been home-schooled for at least one semester under Hawaii's
home-schooling procedures; and
(3) Take and
achieve a satisfactory score on the General Educational Development (GED)
test.
The diploma shall be awarded by the
community school for adults. [Eff. 11/7/91; am and comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS
¤¤302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS ¤302A-1132)¤8-12-22
12-13
¤8-12-22 College entrance examination
and home-schooled children. A child who is
being home schooled may participate in any college entrance examination which is
made available to all other students. The principal of the local public high
school shall, upon request, supply written acknowledgement that a child has been
home schooled in compliance with the requirements of this chapter.? [Eff.
11/7/91; comp 5/13/00] (Auth: HRS ¤¤302A-1112, 302A-1132) (Imp: HRS
¤302A-1132)
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