Alerts
Ad From Virtual Charter School? May 13, 2008
Have you received an advertisement from "Insight school of Nevada"? This is a virtual charter school, and we don't believe that our names should have been provided to them by the local district or by the State. We believe this ad was sent to all high school homeschooled children statewide.Our new homeschool law stipulates the purpose for providing a Notice of Intent to Homeschool to the local district. This Notice of Intent includes our child's name, address and age. The law says: "The purpose of the notice of intent to homeschool is to inform the school district in which the child resides that the child is exempt from the requirement of compulsory attendance." (NRS 392.700 #3). That purpose does not include the provision of the children's information, nor the parent's, by the government to private companies that charter or contract with the State.
Also, many of us signed a privacy statement on the Notice of Intent that states: "I expressly prohibit the release of any information contained in this document, including, without limitation, directory information as defined in 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(a)(5)( A), without my prior written consent." This clause is also provided for in the new law in NRS 392.700 #5f.
Please let us know by emailing FandR@semp.net.
Thanks!
-Frank Schnorbus
NHN - Chair
NV Home Education Awareness Week: March 31- April 5th
Governor Jim Gibbons proclaimed March 31-April 5th as Nevada Home Education Awareness Week. Unfortunately NHN didn't receive prior notice of this, but it is OFFICIAL. A homeschool dad from NDOT saw the proclamation and forwarded it to NNHS chairman Jim Poston who forwarded it to us. Today is the last day but we can still celebrate the Governor's recognition of all Nevada Home Educators!!! Thanks to Governor Gibbons for recognizing the hard and excellent work of homeschool parents and the achievements of homeschool students.You can click on this image to get the pdf version...print it out and show it off!
March 11, 2008: Answers to Good Questions
In light of the situation occurring in California we've decided to update a document used during our last legislature entitled Answers to Good Questions. Nevada law places homeschool responsibility directly on the parent, and also protects children from parents who might try to hide abuse by homeschooling.
A few homeschoolers want more restrictions!In the 2007 legislature a small but vocal group testified against SB404 in favor of a more restrictive law based on the assumption that homeschoolers were ignorant when it comes to educating their own children and, even worse, may actually neglect their children's education. Yes, they were "homeschoolers" who believe that most homeschool parents need oversight from the government, despite the overwhelmingly good record of unregulated homeschoolers. This same group has testified against homeschool freedom for years, calling us flower children that "...want to smoke dope and smell flowers"**.
Motives may be profit-driven
We believe their "concerns" are profit-driven as they provide fee-based services to new homeschoolers. Under the old homeschool law and regulations they made many new homeschoolers think their homeschools would only be legal if they used those services. We believe these tactics were and are dishonest. These people do NOT work with recognized homeschool leaders in Nevada to address their concerns, but instead show up at hearings and meetings and try to derail homeschool freedoms by misrepresenting themselves and the facts.
Read our Answers to Good Questions to see FACTS about homeschooling and the measures that Nevada homeschool leaders have taken to protect our FREEDOM. A California situation is very unlikely to occur here in Nevada. Nevada CPS and Nevada courts are appropriately equipped to handle any neglect or abuse reports.
Nevada Homeschool Network response to correct the record:
- A decision by parents to enroll their child in pubic, private or to homeschool, does not equate with any type of abuse, either physical or educational. Parents and teachers who abuse are a small fraction, and exist throughout society.
- In Nevada over 90% of children attend public school, yet only 19% of all child abuse reports come from schools. NV law has built in protection for children against abuse, both physical and educational. Government schools and governmental oversight are NOT a foolproof safety net for children. Parents, neighbors, churches, and others are the real protectors of children.
- In addition to the existing truancy law in NRS 392 and the educational neglect law in NRS 432B, NRS 392.700 subsection 12 allows a court to evaluate a parent's educational plan.
- Further restrictions in the law are unnecessary. Requiring homeschoolers to annually notify their district that they are homeschooling is misguided thinking. Current law requires a one time notification and annual re-notification only if the child's address or name changes. There is no need to further burden local districts or parents with extra paperwork. Clark County, with over 3000 register homeschoolers, has NO dedicated homeschool staff, and does NOT want the extra burden!
- Nevada Homeschool Network is committed to protecting the right of parents to direct the education of their child as well as ensuring that all parents take full responsibility for the education of that child.
NHN-Officers
Frank Schnorbus, Elissa Wahl, Barbara Dragon, Carl Lucas, Kelley Millard Radow, and Laura Siegal
This comment was made in response to regulation changes being proposed at that time to the Nevada State Board of Education.
March 7, 2008: Update on CA Homeschooling
Emotions of shock, fear and indignation continue to prevail amongst homeschool supporters nationwide regarding the California appeals court ruling on homeschooling last week. Many people are wondering how this will affect homeschoolers in other states. Our answer is that it depends on the laws in each state.
Just after our new homeschool law here in Nevada was passed last June I remember being asked on several occasions what was "different". The most obvious difference is our one-time Notification. But underneath, homeschooling in Nevada was completely changed! The analogy I used was a bridge over a river: you can drive over a turn-of-the-century wooden bridge, and unknowingly cause structural creakings and stresses. Or replace it with a modern super-structure designed to handle modern traffic, and the bridge will hardly know you're crossing. Although Nevada has had a homeschool law of sorts on the books since 1947, it gave broad powers to the local pubic school district and to the State Board of Education. In fact, a 1982 court case in Humboldt County resulted in a court opinion very similar to this California case; homeschooling was not allowed. Had our new law not passed, this California case almost certainly could have had a huge negative affect on Nevada homeschoolers. There could be significant impact in states with laws similar to our old law, or in states similar to California where homeschooling isn't even defined.
Earlier today Dr. James Dobson had several important guests on his Focus on the Family radio show. Roy Hanson of Family Protection Ministries (the California version of Nevada Homeschool Network), Michael Farris of HSLDA, and others discussed the California situation. You can listen to the broadcast
I also saw the San Francisco Chronicle had this homeschooling case as their front page top headline. It was encouraging to read this: "State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell issued a statement saying he supports "parental choice when it comes to homeschooling." That was encouraging! Click here to read the entire article.
It's important to know that, unfortunately, this case has it's roots in a family where there have been several allegations of abuse over the past two decades. We've read some court documents - we don't know if they're "public" information and don't want to be part of spreading them if they're not - that depict some of the abuse the children have allegedly gone through. So we encourage people to sign the petition to depublish the court case, but we suggest people refrain from jumping to the defense of the family. The case centered around abuse, not around homeschooling. This court opinion, however, went far beyond the immediate case at hand, judging all homeschoolers in the entire State.
We will continue to keep everyone updated as we learn more. The bottom line for Nevada is, be thankful! And keep California homeschoolers in your thoughts and prayers.
NHN Officers
Elissa Wahl, Laura Siegel, Carl Lucas, Kelley Radow, Barb Dragon,
Frank Schnorbus
March 4, 2008: Chaos in California
Just a few days ago, on February 28th, a momentous Appellate Court decision was handed down in California. Some of you may have heard about it elsewhere; let's call it an "opportunity" for homeschool law improvement in California! HSLDA has stated that, if followed, this decision will cause California to have the most regressive law in the nation and homeschooling will be effectively banned. HSLDA was not a party to the case, and found out about it when the decision was made public.
In California the most common way to homeschool is to enroll your child in a private school. Below is a quote from "Private and Home Educators of California, Legal-Legislative Update" for August/September 2007, by Roy M. Hanson, Jr.. (Family Protection Ministries, PO Box 730, Lincoln, Calif 95648-0730):
"Enrolling your compulsory-age child in a private school (whether home-based or campus-based), which has filed a current private school affidavit, exempts your child from compulsory attendance at a public school, according to California Education Code Sections 48222 and 33190. In California, there is no legally-defined entity known as a 'homeschool.' In order to be consistent with the law of our state, we do not use the term 'homeschool' with public school officials."
The unanimous decision, by Justices Walter Croskey, Joan D. Klein, and Patti S. Kitching, said that enrolling the children in the private school (Sunland Christian School) was depriving them of an education in a public or private full-time day school setting. It was a "ruse of enrolling them in a private school and then letting them stay home and be taught by a non-credentialed parent." The court also threw out the parental claim they were homeschooling their children because of religious beliefs. Citing the Supreme Court Amish case (Wisconsin v. Yoder), this family wasn't religious enough, causing some commentators to wonder if it is necessary to be super-religious to gain special favors from the government.
All of this is on the heels of California passing into law the very controversial SB777, which prohibits public schools and teachers from "reflecting adversely" on gays and lesbians, which many say will prevent schools from using the terms "mommy" or "daddy". Many groups have recently come together under "California Exodus", calling for people to get their children out of public schools.
The court decision strikes me as very similar to the Nevada case in Humboldt County (the Wallace case) in 1982. In that case an application to homeschool was denied by the local school district because the parents weren't credentialed, the parents had no Constitutional right to educate their own children, and the parents weren't religious enough (according to the secular court).
Nevada now has a very different type of law protecting our legal right to homeschool. We are not considered "private" schools, and homeschooling is defined in law. Parents are directly responsible for the education of their children. Provision is made for the courts to verify homeschooling is occuring, if a court requests it, to help prevent abuse of the law from occuring. A religious clause similar to the Federal RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act) helps prevent a secular court from deciding whether you're "religious" or not. Many provisions have been included by our legislators to allow us to participate in public school special education, in public school classes, and in sports and other extracurricular activities, as well as full access to the state's Millennium Scholarship program for our graduates. We have so much to be thankful for! Be sure to tell your Assemblyman or Senator thank you!
NHN Officers
Frank Schnorbus, Elissa Wahl, Kelley Radow, Barb Dragon, Laura
Siegel, Carl Lucas
Education in the News
Court's homeschool ban creating 'panic'
"Required by California law"
Homeschooling in California
Judge orders homeschoolers into government education
Court: No Constitutional Right to Educate Children at Home
Defending Homeschool Freedom in California
Court Ruling
JUNE 4th, 2007: SB404 PASSED the Nevada Legislature!!!
SB 404-R4 has passed both the Nevada Assembly and Senate and is on its way to the Governor! Although amended 4 times since the original we are very pleased with the outcome. Your emails and phone calls made a huge difference; we kept hearing throughout the session once a committee passed the bill, "Please stop the emails!" Here is quick overview of the many sweeping positive aspects of the bill. This new law takes effect July 1st, and is recognition by the Legislature of your hard work!
New FREEDOM for Homeschoolers:
- Eliminates oversight of homeschooling by the local or state public school system: It establishes a one-time notification of intent to homeschool to be the local school district when the child begins to homeschool. This EXEMPTS the child from the compulsory attendance law. All current homeschoolers will be required to file this year under the new law but won't be required to file ever again unless they move, or the names or address change, or the child wants to take a class or do an activity in the public school system. No longer do parents need to show the child's birth certificate, and there is no need, reason, or requirement for the parent to ever have to go down to the public school District office. New homeschoolers will need to have all of their questions answered by their homeschool support group.
- Eliminates the requirement that homeschoolers provide "equivalent instruction to public schools": The law now clearly gives the parent the right to direct the education of the child and full responsibility to determine what, when, and how the child is being educated. The child must, at a minimum, be educated in English (reading, composition and writing), Math, Science, and Social Studies (history, geography, economics, and government) but as appropriate for the child's age and skill level as determined by the parent and not all courses are required to be taught every year! With the new law, only a court and not the public school system can decide whether or not the homeschooled child is being educated.
- Requires the school district to accept a notice of intent (they are barred from requiring or requesting anything more than what is in the law) and may not "deny" a notice that contains the required information:
- Name, age, gender of child;
- Name and address of parent;
- An educational plan, as appropriate for the age and skill level of the child at the time of filing for the first year of homeschooling. (This plan does not have to meet any set standard, and can be short and simple. Additionally, each parent can easily develop the plan themselves, and you do not need to hire consultants to do it for you. Your homeschool support group can assist by posting sample educational plan templates for the various grade levels);
- The last Nevada public school attended, if applicable; and
- A privacy statement if you so wish to sign.
- Name, age, gender of child;
- Upon receipt of the notification of intent to homeschool that contains the above information a district must give the parent a "written acknowledgement... that the parent has provided the notification required by law and that the child is being homeschooled." The acknowledgement shall serve as "Proof of Compliance" with Nevada's compulsory school attendance law. AND the district must keep a copy of the acknowledgement for at least 15 years. If you ever lose or misplace the acknowledgement you (or the child after he turns 18) may request a copy of the acknowledgement or anything else in the child's homeschool file and the district must process that request within 5 days.
- Requires the districts to give adequate notice about testing opportunities for high school students and availability to homeschool students, such as the high school proficiency exam and college entrance exams (needed to qualify for the Millennium Scholarship) as well as information on the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Exam, via the internet.
- Establishes a religious liberty clause for homeschool parents and children.
- Clearly defines the word, "parent".
- Establishes the Nevada court system as the arbitrator of disputes regarding the education of the child. This includes disputes between the parent who is providing the education and the local school district, or a county or state child welfare department, or two parents in a divorce proceeding.
- Includes an anti-discrimination clause by "a school or organization" against a child who is or was homeschooled.
- Clarifies in law how districts may evaluate coursework done by a homeschooled child for entrance into a public high school.
- Requires the Department of Education to adopt regulations for the local Districts to provide special education programs and services to homeschool children if the parents want them. This reflects requirements of current Federal law and regulations.
OTHER ASPECTS:
- Requires the Department of Education to create a Notification of Intent to Homeschool (though the law doesn't say that this is the only form that can be used by the parent) and the districts must make the form available to the parent.
- Requires the Department of Education to create a "Notice of Intent to Participate in Programs and Activities" with the same information as the Notification of Intent to Homeschool, excluding the educational plan. This is for a homeschooled child who wishes to participate in ANY classes, generally defined as "up to 50% of a school day", or activities, programs, sports or interscholastic activities and events at or through a public school or charter school. This intent to participate must filed with the school district for each year the homeschool child participates at the public school. The district may request to view proof of identity of the child for participation in classes and/or activities or special education services. They must view proof of identity when a child wishes to participate in any interscholastic activities and events (such as sports).
- If a parent homeschools their child and has submitted the original Notification of Intent to Homeschool, and later enrolls the child in public or private school for a period of time but then decides to withdraw the child for homeschooling again, the parent must fill out a NEW Notification of Intent to Homeschool including a new educational plan for the succeeding year. This comes at the request of school districts that often times see parents enrolling and unenrolling their child and then enrolling again only to unenroll the child again. Since it would then seem that the continuity of education has been broken, the law now requires that each time a child is withdrawn from public or charter school a new Notification of Intent to Homeschool must be submitted that includes a new educational plan established for the current age and skill of the child.
FREEDOMS WE FOUGHT FOR, BUT DIDN'T GET:
- We asked for the ability to file our Notice of Intent to Homeschool forms electronically. The new law says "written notice of intent to homeschool". It is possible that Nevada law may (now or in the future) recognize electronically filed state documents as being "written", in which case we'd be able to file electronically.
- We asked to be relieved altogether from the requirement to file an educational plan. We are concerned that this may be, or may become, an issue with local districts trying to exert control over people who file a notice to homeschool. The legislature inserted language to prevent that from occurring, so time will tell if it is an issue or not.
- We asked that the local district NOT be required to provide a written receipt upon receipt of a Notice of Intent to Homeschool. Even amongst ourselves we have differing opinions on this, but our concern is that whenever the district is required to do something they tend to want something more than your taxes in return. We felt that the Intent form being on file, and our ability to obtain a copy from the District, was sufficient.
Time will tell if any of these become burdensome enough to re-approach the Legislature in future years. But meanwhile, the overwhelming positive freedoms gained by this new law far outweigh these comparatively small items!
IN CONCLUSION:
More work needs to be done as we adjust to these new freedoms!
We you need to thank your legislators, individually. Each homeschool support group needs to be ready and available to answer the questions of people who are inquiring about homeschooling; the local districts won't be doing that anymore!
We need to continue to work with our local districts, our State Department of Education, and our State Board of Education, as we take our place at the table as an equal educational option with public and private schools.
And no doubt there will be future challenges that we'll need to address.
To read the final bill go to: http://www.leg.state.nv.us/74th/Bills/SB/SB404_R4.pdf
Nevada Homeschool Network and the Committee to Modernize Nevada Homeschool Law want to thank you for your help in getting this homeschool freedom law passed!
Frank Schnorbus, Nevada Homeschool Network (NHN)
Barbara Dragon, NHN, and Douglas County homeschool parents
Elissa Wahl, NHN, NWLVHSERS Group, Las Vegas
Irene Rushing, Home Educators of Faith (HEoF), Reno/Sparks
Carl Lucas, NHN, HEoF, and Pershing County homeschool parents
Tina Goodman, NHN, TEACH, Churchill County homeschool parents
Kelley Radow, Eagle Home School Co-op, NNHS, Reno
Kime King-Patraw, parent-at-large, Las Vegas
June 01, 2007: SB404 Update
Today, SB404 was heard twice before the assembly, first for voting on the amendment that was proposed by the Education Committee. This was passed onto the Bill. Then, for a passage with the amendment. This, too, passed.As the bill reads now, it is NOT more restrictive than what we currently have. There are actually some very good parts to the bill, and we are happy that the bill as a whole was passed. There are a few more technicalities that need to happen before this becomes law. We will keep you updated if we need more action, and we will let you know what all this means for YOU.
You may now stop emailing/calling the assemblymen. Thanks for letting them know your views and more about homeschooling! Your emails and calls were helpful! Hopefully they will remember us in years to come!!
May 30, 2007: SB404-Help Needed!!
Update on today's SB404 Hearing: There is a small percentage of homeschoolers who are advocating that there should be many (many!) restrictions on homeschooling, and that your right to homeschool should be overseen and controlled by the public school system! This fox-watching-the-henhouse mentality is prevalent in the Assembly, and many Committee members eagerly listened while all of the restrictionist testimonies were heard.Prior to today's hearing, we put out several emails asking folks to email their legislators and to show up at the legislative hearings; unfortunately people aren't coming out and the one group that does show up is AGAINST homeschooling freedoms! Though we've been in contact with people from this group, they refuse to work with us. Instead, they show up at these hearings and testify against us. We've also been informed that they're actively emailing their legislators, lobbying against freedom!
At the Assembly Education Committee workshop today we had:
1) In Carson; Frank Schnorbus, Carl Lucas (2.5 hr drive each way), Tina Goodman (1.5 hr drive each way), Irene Rushing and daughter (45 min drive each way), and one other homeschool mom and her son. All are against restrictive laws.
2) In Las Vegas; Elissa Wahl, Gina Anderson, Suzanne Nounna and her daughter, and Zoe Hardge. Only Elissa is against restrictive laws.
Even though it wasn't a public hearing, for some reason Chairwoman Bonnie Parnell allowed each of the Las Vegas people (all 4, except Elissa) to testify. She had already heard Elissa testify last week during the time allowed for public testimony.
Testifiers today said that they want annual filings, and more restrictive guidelines. One went so far as to say that she feared with lesser restrictions, homeschoolers would start to lose the high-achieving scores they've had in years past that were due to state-mandated testing!!! However, not one made mention of the fact that they run businesses making money "helping" homeschoolers, or "teaching homeschoolers". In years past this was a well known fact, publically testified to at a State Board of Education meeting. Of course we understand it is financially more savy to make restrictions harder, so more folks "need help". This group will talk to us only to find out what they can use against us. Then they show up and testify against us, usually without having a clue about what is being considered (as evidenced today). It's in their business interest for there to be a LOT OF RESTRICTIONS! They and their cohorts are testifying against homeschool freedoms! Another 60 years of homeschool restrictions would be in their best interests.
Here's where our homeschool bill is now, after suffering several amendments in the Education Committee. The requirement to file annually would stay intact. The requirement to file an educational plan would stay intact (this is where the anti-freedom homeschoolers make a killing). The requirement for the local district to give a receipt for receiving your notification would stay intact (be aware that anytime the district has to do something, they will want something in return). Other very restrictive amendments were discussed during the workshop, including filing an educational plan EVERY year, but it is unclear at this point if they will be part of the bill that goes to the Assembly for a full vote.
Is it true that the majority of homeschoolers think that the problems are being "handled" by a few of us leaders, and that there is no need for them to act?
SB404 is being dismantled, and rest assured that there is a minority of homeschoolers that is giggling excitedly. It appeared that Nevada was going to catch up with several of our surrounding states as far as homeschooling freedoms are concerned, but that is now seriously in jeopardy. Please immediately contact as many Assembly members as you can and tell them that the testimony heard today does NOT represent your opinions on homeschooling freedoms! Tell them SB404, as amended in the Senate, is what we want! (http://www.leg.state.nv.us/74th/Bills/SB/SB404_R2.pdf) Or contact all of them if you wish! Emails are below.
Meanwhile, we will continue to work with the Legislature. We only have a few days left! Please help! We need this immediately!
May 29, 2007: SB404 Calls Needed
Tomorrow (wed) is a big day for SB404. Last week it was heard for the first time in the Assem. Education Committee and a few questions were raised. A work session will take place Wed May 30 at 3:45pm. During this time we hope to explain answers to their questions. The timing is crucial...we are coming up on the end of the legislative session. We reallyyyyyy need this bill heard and a vote on it, preferably a YAY vote, and then a PROMPT floor vote.Please, call Chairwoman Parnell's office 775-684-8825 and respectfully ask her to call for a vote on our bill. It is up to her discretion to even hear it, and then to call for a vote on it. We need it voted on!
You can attend this work session but there is no testimony taken. Support is still crucial though!
Assembly Education
# Room 3142 of the Legislative Building, 401 S. Carson St., Carson City, NV.
# Videoconference to 4401 of the Grant Sawyer State Office Building, 555 E. Washington Ave., Las Vegas, NV.
If you have not already called and asked the Education Committee members to vote favorably for SB404, it is not too late!
Thanks all!
Elissa Wahl
May 15, 2007: Senate Passes SB 404
Today the Senate UNANIMOUSLY passed SB404..now on to the Assembly Education Committee!May 9, 2007: Update on SB404
While SB404 was in the Senate Human Resources and Education Committee we met with Dr. Keith Rheault, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and agreed to amend the bill so that homeschoolers would send their Notice of Intent to Homeschool to the local district (as we currently do) instead of to his office. He said he would then remove the fiscal note that he had attached to the bill. A fiscal note indicates that the bill is going to "cost" the government money, either at the State or at the local level, so the bill must get passed by more committees. Often it is a "diplomatic" way to kill a bill, contending that it will cost money and making the bill jump through several extra imaginary hoops. For SB404 we felt that amending it was more expedient than taking the time to prove that it would save the State money.Thinking the bill was now free, we sent the April 25th email asking folks to contact their Senators to pass the bill on the Senate floor.
But... instead of going to the floor, for reasons that no one can quite adequately explain (to us anyway), the bill still showed the fiscal note, and it got scheduled for a hearing before the Senate Finance Committee. We attended, and Dr. Rheault testified that he had removed the fiscal note, and we testified that we'd like to move the bill along as soon as possible. By this time deadlines for passage over to the other house had passed, but a deadline "exemption" had been passed for our bill. Disappointingly the Finance Committee didn't vote and pass our bill out of their committee immediately.
Meanwhile Clark County proposed a couple of further amendments to the bill, now that the Notices of Intents would be going to the local district offices instead of the State Superintendent. A meeting was set up with Senator Washington, and we negotiated yet another amendment. The first amendment would define the only times that a homeschool parent would have to show a child's birth certificate; that being when the child is to participate in services, events or activities (ie sports), or classes in the public school system. The second was to clarify in law how credits would be awarded to a child who was homeschooled but is now entering into a middle school grade; currently this is defined in the regulations but Clark County felt it needed to be in the law.
The day we met with Clark County, last Thursday May 3rd, the Senate Finance Committee took a vote and sent our bill forward. So now we've received confirmation that the bill has been sent back to the LCB (Legislative Counsel Bureau) to get our amendment language drafted into legal lingo in the bill itself. It will then go to the full Senate floor, where the amendments and the bill itself will get voted upon. Of course we don't know when this will happen since we don't know how long the LCB will take to do their work. The good news is that the bill itself has received very little opposition during testimony. So our hope is that when it gets (as we hope!) over to the Assembly most of the wrinkles will have been ironed out. We have talked and met with legislators in the Assembly in preparation for that glorious day. WHEN (IF) THAT HAPPENS we will let you know if and when a hearing gets set up in the Assembly Education Committee.
We are still very excited and optimistic about this bill! In 1947 when our current homeschool law was passed, Jackie Robinson, the first black player in modern major league baseball, was playing his first year for the Dodgers. Times have changed in both baseball and education, and we're excited to get this bill to our Nevada Legislature!!
-Frank Schnorbus
NHN - Chair
April 25 2007: Calls Needed Now on SB404
The Senate still has to vote on S.B. 404 which was exempt from the April 24th deadline. Calls are needed to ensure a large majority of the Senate passes it. The more votes in favor in the Senate, the more likely it will pass in the Assembly! The vote could be taken at anytime.Under the ammended version, homeschoolers would simply have to file a notice, once, to the local school district. The notice would include only the full name, age, and gender of the child; the name and address of the parent filing the notice; and a statement signed by the parent affirming that he/she is the parent and "assumes full responsibility for the education of the child while the child is being homeschooled." In addition, there is an optional statement that the parent may sign, as in current regulation, which expressly prohibits the release of any information included in the notice of intent to anyone. The bill also prohibits discrimination in any manner against the child who is or was homeschooled, and requires that homeschool children be allowed to participate in the college entrance exams and the National Merit Scholarship qualifying test. One of the most unique and helpful parts of the bill is the statement that "no regulation or policy of the state board or any school district may infringe upon the right of parents to educate his child based on religious preference, unless it is essential to further compelling governmental interest and the least restrictive means to further that governmental interest."
ACTION REQUESTED:
Please call your state senator now and give him or her this message: "Please support S.B. 404 introduced by Senator Washington and passed unaimously by the Senate Human Resources and Education committee. This bill will better protect parental rights and choice in the area of education. It will also save taxpayers' money by reducing unnecessary bureaucratic oversight over homeschoolers."Do not call the seven members of the Committee who already voted in favor of S.B. 404: Senators Washington, Barbara Cegavske, Dennis Nolan, Joe Heck, Valerie Wiener, Steven Horsford, and Joyce Woodhouse. Be ready to attend hearings for this bill in Carson City and Las Vegas when it is debated by the Assembly Education Committee. If there is strong showing of homeschoolers then S.B. 404 will likely pass and eventually become law!
Thanks for your help in securing FREEDOM for Nevada homeschoolers.
The Committee to Modernize Nevada's Homeschool Law
April 11 2007: SB404 Passes 1st Committee Hearing!
At the Nevada Senate Human Resources and Education Committee this evening a legislative work session was held to consider several bills, including our SB 404 homeschool bill. Barbara Dragon, Carl Lucas (with his son Arié), Kime King Patraw, Irene Rushing (with husband Robbie and 3 of their children), and Frank Schnorbus sat in the audience.Although testimony per se isn't taken during a work session, Chairman Washington requested Frank and Barbara to inform the Senators about the amendments that were proposed. Chairman Washington then asked Dr. Keith Rheault, State Superintendent of Public Instruction to speak, and Dr. Rheault informed the Senators that the fiscal note has been removed from the bill because of the amendments.
The Senators then voted; Senator Heck made the motion, with a second by Senator Wiener, and the vote was YES! unanimous!
The bill will now go to the full Senate for a vote where we hope for a favorable vote within the next couple of weeks. If it passes, it THEN goes over to the Assembly, where we hope to have it heard in Bonnie Parnell's Education Committee. Just like at the national level, it's a whole different world in the other legislative house! We've already met with some of the legislators and have found support on both sides of the aisle, but nothing can be taken for granted! In some ways it's difficult to change the mindset that goes along with a 60 year old antiquated homeschool law!
There is no need to further contact the Human Resources and Education Committee Senators, unless you want to thank them! And thank you for your emails and phone calls!
The legislative website shows the bill "As Introduced", and will show the amended version when the LCB attorneys get it drafted and posted, hopefully in the next few days. It will be on the SB404 webpage at http://www.leg.state.nv.us/74th/Reports/history.cfm?ID=977
We will continue to keep you informed at the various stages. Most importantly (assuming it passes in the Senate!), if Bonnie Parnell is willing to hear our bill in her committee we will need many many folks to come to the hearing, both in Carson and in Las Vegas. We will let you know!
And as always, whenever contacting a legislator, please keep it respectful, short and sweet! It's a very tiring job they have!
-Frank Schnorbus
NHN - Chair
March 2007: Date for 1st Committee Hearing, and who to call/email and where to go to support it
SB404, our homeschool bill, will be heard in Human Resources and Education Committee on Apr/06/2007 at 01:30 PM.We ask 2 things. 1) Call or email the committee members asking them to vote in favor of SB 404. 2) Show up to support its passage! You do NOT need to speak. Please feel free to bring your well dressed and well-behaved children.
To Email:
Maurice Washington - Chair
Barbara Cegavske - Vice Chair
Dennis Nolan
Joe Heck
Valerie Wiener
Steven Horsford
Joyce Woodhouse
To Show Up:
In Carson City, Room 2135 of the Legislative Building, 401 S. Carson St.
In Las Vegas, Videoconference to: Room 4412 of the Grant Sawyer State Office Building, 555 E. Washington Ave.
Please note, we are not the only item on the agenda, there might be a wait time...please bring a book, or other quiet items for children.
March 22, 2007: Homeschool Bill Introduced
Hey all,Our homeschool bill, SB 404, was finally introduced! You can read it at http://www.leg.state.nv.us/74th/Reports/history.cfm?ID=977
Senator Washington (former Assemblywoman Sharron Angle originally requested a homeschool bill) agreed to sponsor this bill and the Legislative Counsel Bureau used our proposed wording almost word for word.
In Carson City, a few key homeschool advocates have been making the rounds, introducing themselves and our bill intent to various NV senators, assemblymen/ women (who sit on either the education or finance committees), the Governor's staff, the Dept. of Education and State Board members, bringing them up to speed on homeschooling in the U.S. and Nevada. They have gotten a favorable response from both Republicans and Democrats. Homeschooling is a bi-partisan issue because it is all about CHOICE in education.
Over the last 25 years homeschooling has been shown to be a successful education option with or without state oversight. Our goal is to get on even footing with private schools (those who choose not to be licensed) and out from under the "authority" of the local school board and State Board of Education. Many states, especially in the west now have laws giving homeschool parents total freedom to direct the education of their child. We have researched these laws and hopefully have drawn knowledge and inspiration from the best of them.
We want to free true homeschoolers from burdensome law and regulations because we know you are doing an outstanding job which has been backed up in study after study and that most homeschoolers don't need to meet "requirements from the state". However, we realize that some parents may try to take advantage of the wonderful groundwork you have laid, pull their children out of public school or private school to "homeschool" and then do nothing. The law does not and will not allow this. Current Nevada law has safeguards already in place to protect children from educational neglect and/or truancy. If it is ever suspected that these "non-educators" are using the homeschool law to hide behind they can be prosecuted if they have signed a document "taking full responsibility for the education of their child" as proposed in SB 404.
As we send out updates, we will be asking for supporters to come to both Carson City and to the Las Vegas teleconference when the bill is heard, to testify or just to show support in numbers. This will be during committee meetings and in both houses...our presence CAN make a difference! Letters, calls, and emails will also be needed and usually on short notice. So read ahead, ask us questions now, and be prepared to support the bill in whatever way you can.
Also, if there are any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact us. (Frank Schnorbus, Carl Lucas, Elissa Wahl) We would love everyone to be a cohesive unit, supporting this monumental change for homeschoolers in NV.
Thanks to all who have supported this vital work over the years. Our hard work is finally paying off and we need you now more than ever. This is probably the single most important bill we've ever worked on at the legislature.
Feb 6, 2007: Announcement of Homeschool Bill in the works
Dear Nevada Homeschoolers and Homeschool Advocates,Nevada Homeschool Network (NHN) advocates for homeschooling. Whether in Washington DC, at the NV state legislature, State Board of Education meetings, or wherever, NHN promotes homeschool interests. We also spend a lot of time listening... We attend national conferences and network with leaders around the country, studying the latest homeschool gains.
We keep a running "wish list" of laws that other states have enacted that provide greater freedoms to homeschooling parents. We also track court decisions and homeschool studies that pertain to these freedoms.
This year at the legislature it was our intent to request a Religious Freedom Restoration Act bill, copying almost word for word the bill introduced last session by Assemblyman Bernie Anderson. You may recall that President Bill Clinton signed the RFRA bill in 1993, but the States portion was struck down in 1997 by the Supreme Court (see Religious Freedom Restoration Act for more info!) Homeschoolers, as well as many others, would benefit.
But is was not to be! The RFRA language was submitted as a homeschool bill (which it is not), and rules being rules, we ended up with an "open" homeschool bill to use any way we'd like! So we've decided to dust off our research on our current homeschool law, a law first codified in 1947 before being put into its current form in 1956. It is our hope to "update and modernize" the language, drawing from the successes in many other states. We now feel that this mishap is a Providential opportunity, given Governor Gibbons' recently announced commitment to improving education in our State.
As many of you know, the current law has been an umbrella for a full range of regulations adopted by the State Board of Education. These regulations over the last 20 plus years have ranged from being extremely restrictive to our currently less-restrictive language. The State Board has listened favorably in recent years to our requests, and the past few years have proven that homeschool freedom works, reflecting the findings in recent peer reviewed studies. This freedom has not trumpeted a mass exodus from public schools, as the homeschool enrollment percentage in Nevada has fallen in the last 4 years from 1.02% to .88%. We believe that the success of homeschooling and the vagueness of the existing law justify our request to the legislature. A "sprucing up" if you will, to get the law in conformance with the realities of modern day homeschooling!
We are "doing our homework" and are drafting language that we believe will pass the legislature; language that is simple and direct, placing the responsibility for homeschool education on the shoulders of the parents. We will keep you updated as to how you can help, when phone calls need to be made, testimony provided, and letters or emails sent. As soon as we know more, we will get the word out!
Sincerely,
Nevada Homeschool Network
(Frank Schnorbus, Carl Lucas, Elissa Wahl)
in concert with Homeschool Leaders and Advocates Statewide
(including Barb Dragon, Tina Goodman, Kime King-Patraw, Irene Rushing, Marita Sanders
NAC's Finally Posted on DOE Website!!
Here's a brief rundown of how it all happened:1) October 2004 - The State Board of Education passed the "second phase" of homeschool regulations (the first phase had been passed in December 2002 and posted on the state website in 2004). Amongst many other things, this phase included changes that ended the mandatory "homeschool consultant" requirement for first year homeschoolers. These were considered "interim" regulations because the 2005 legislature was getting ready to begin, and the Legislative Council Bureau (LCB) didn't have time to check the verbiage over and assign new NAC numbers to new regulation sections.
2) October 2005 - Interim regulations are allowed, by law, to be in effect for only one year. At the last minute the Legislative Council Bureau completed their rewording and review of the regulations. Besides the rewording (which was extensive), plus a lot of confusion on version changes, there were minor changes. Homeschool leaders worked with the State Board, the Department of Education, and the LCB to iron out problem areas. It was imperative that the regulations get final passage in this October meeting, because otherwise the regulations would revert to the pre-October 2004 regulations. The Board passed them, finalizing the process. Now the LCB only had to double-check their wording, assign section numbers to new sections, and get them posted to the state website.
3) April 2006 - The final regulations are posted to the state website!NAC 392
Or as a pdf file: NAC 392 as a pdf file
We encourage everyone to read these over. There have been MANY problems with local districts over the past 18 months that could easily have been resolved instantly if these regulations had been posted as they are now. The State Department of Education had sent each district a copy of the "current" regulations, but these versions had been replete with line-outs and italicized new language, and were therefore more difficult to follow. Since the districts usually refer directly to the state website, which showed the pre-October 2004 regulations, this long-awaited final version is most welcome.
Thank you for your concern.