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Need advice re: using public school services & submitting a letter of assurance
- This topic has 19 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 7 months ago by
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Christie, I appreciate your concern. I share it! I don’t want to be the loving homeschool mother who gets taken to court. Ever. I will definitely be researching all my options before making a decision. 😉
Suzukimom, belonging to HSLDA has never been a money issue; it’s simply been an issue of not feeling the need for it, until now perhaps. We are so blessed to live in a state that doesn’t micro-manage homeschoolers, so we never considered HSLDA membership until now. If possible, I want to avoid getting to that point. Right now, I’m being overly nice to the special needs director. If I can keep this between her and me, I don’t feel like I need to rush out and join HSLDA. I’m trying to be wisely cautious without jumping the gun, if that makes sense. I don’t want to give the school district any reason to feel like they have to “come after me”.
You’re right about the school district’s letter of assurance–the statement about allowing reasonable inquiry by local attendance officers is NOT a part of the Texas homeschooling law. HSLDA has a letter of assurance available to members that does not include this and more narrowly affirms the points regarding the written curriculum requirements that is limited to only that which the law states.
Lindsey, I sent you a pm last night regarding this, but I understand you have been having pm problems. If by chance you didn’t receive it, let me know & I can paste the major points here.
At any rate, HSLDA has always maintained that, in many cases, parents are not required to use the forms sent to them by a local school district, and they normally have their own version of such forms (with their logo and without the unnecessary language that districts sometimes throw in) that are available for their members to use.
Sue, I did get your PM. I just haven’t had time to respond. We are cleaning our garage today in preparation for a garage sale tomorrow. Yippee. 😉
I just spoke to the special education director. She assured me that I was not required to sign the letter. She said she had done her part by sending it to me, but that signing or not signing the letter would have no effect on dd receiving OT from the schools. I feel much better about it. I also expressed my concerns about the line in the letter regarding the inquiries from an attendance officer. She said that some schools may check up on parents, but that our school district does not. She loves that we homeschool, and based upon our dd’s specific needs, even she feels that her needs are better met in a homeschool environment than in PS. I feel so much better about it.
Lindsay that sounds like great news. It’s wonderful when you find people in the system that appreciate there are other ways to do things. Now that you’re accepting services from the public school (or likely will) it would make your joining HSLDA more valuable. Just keep it in mind!
Lindsey, no need to respond to the pm. I’m glad it is working out for you, and this thread will definitely help others who may have similar situations with school districts requesting things that they really have no right to ask for. It sounds like the special ed director is on your side, and that’s great. It’s sometimes rare to find those public school individuals who at least think homeschooling is okay, if not a positive thing for those who choose to do so.
Hopefully, the OT that works with your daughter will be like-minded.
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