At its Jan. 14 meeting, the School Board of the City of Virginia Beach elected Kathleen Brown as chair and Carolyn Weems as vice chair. Brown has served on the School Board for two years and Weems for 22 years.
Home Instruction 5-13.1
School Board of the City of Virginia Beach
Regulation 5-13.1
STUDENTS
Home Instruction
Instruction of children by their parents has been declared an acceptable form of education by the General Assembly of Virginia (Home Instruction).
- Parent Options
Parents will be permitted to provide home instruction in lieu of school attendance if they meet any one of the following four conditions and comply with the requirements in Sections B, C, & D:
- The teaching parent holds a high school diploma.
- The teaching parent is a teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Virginia Board of Education.
- The parent provides a curriculum or program of study which may be delivered through a correspondence course or distance learning program or in any other manner.
- The parent provides evidence that he/she is able to provide an adequate education for the child.
For purposes of this regulation, "parent" means the biological parent, adoptive parent, guardian or other person having control of a child.
- Application Procedures
- Notification
A parent who elects home instruction in lieu of school attendance must annually notify the Coordinator of Student Conduct/Services by August 15 of intent to do so for the coming school year and must provide evidence of having met one of the criteria for providing home instruction set forth in subsection A. Parents providing home instruction under options 1 and 2 must also submit a description of the curriculum, limited to a list of subjects to be studied during the coming year. Parents who move into the School Division or begin home instruction after the start of the school year must notify the Coordinator of Student Conduct/Services of their intent to provide home instruction as soon as practicable and parents shall comply with the requirements of Virginia Code § 22.1-254.1, as amended, within thirty (30) days of notification. The annual notice may be in the form of a letter, other written notice or on a form supplied by the School Division.
- Response by the Coordinator of Student Conduct/Services
The Coordinator of Student Conduct/Services shall review the information submitted by the parent and inform the parent by letter whether or not the notification complies with Virginia law as set forth in Virginia Code § 22.1-254.1, as amended.
- Notification
- Evidence of Achievement
In accordance with the provisions of Virginia Code § 22.1-254.1, as amended, the parent will be required to submit, by the following August 1, evidence of the child's academic achievement in one of the following ways:
- Evidence that the child has attained a composite score in or above the fourth stanine on any nationally normed standardized achievement test.
- An evaluation or assessment which, the Superintendent determines to indicate that the child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth and progress.
- An evaluation letter from a person licensed to teach in any state, or a person with a master's degree or higher in an academic discipline having knowledge of the child’s academic progress, stating that the child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth and progress.
- A report card or transcript from a community college or college, college distance learning program, or home-education correspondence school.
- In the event that evidence of progress as required by this regulation is not provided by the parent, the home instruction program for that child may be placed on probation for one year. Parents shall file with the Coordinator of Student Conduct/Services evidence of their ability to provide an adequate education for their child in compliance with subsection A of this section and a remediation plan for the probationary year which indicates their program is designed to address any educational deficiency. Upon acceptance of such evidence and plan by the Coordinator of Student Conduct/Services, the home instruction may continue for one probationary year. If the remediation plan and evidence are not accepted or the required evidence of progress is not provided by August 1 following the probationary year, home instruction shall cease and the parent shall make other arrangements for the education of the child which complies with the compulsory attendance requirements set forth in Virginia Code § 22.1-254, as amended.
- The requirements of this subsection do not apply to children who are under the age of six as of September 30 of the school year.
- Immunization
- The parent shall comply with the immunization requirements provided in Virginia Code § 32.1-46, as amended.
- The parent must submit the proof of immunization upon request of the Division Superintendent.
- In the event the parent fails to comply with the immunization, the child will be excluded from home instruction.
- Placement of Home Instruction Students in Virginia Beach City Public Schools
- Placement of students will be in accordance with the requirements of the Board of Education's Regulations Establishing Standards for Accrediting Public Schools in Virginia.
- Students will provide to the school in which he/she desires to enroll the following information:
- A list of courses taken;
- Evidence of achievement in course work; and
- Documentation of hours of study.
- Students may be administered appropriate placement tests as determined by the principal.
- Placement of students will be determined by the principal and will be tentative depending upon emotional adjustment and academic success. Any credit received will be recorded as pass/fail.
- The school shall notify the Office of Student Conduct/Services upon the re-enrollment of a student who has been home instructed.
- Appeal
Any parent wishing to appeal a decision of the Coordinator of Student Conduct/Services relative to home instruction may request a hearing by an independent hearing officer. This request shall be in writing and shall be sent to the Coordinator of Student Conduct/Services within thirty (30) days of receipt of his/her decision.
The independent hearing officer shall be chosen from the list maintained by the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court for hearing appeals of the placements of children with disabilities.
The costs of the hearing shall be apportioned among the parties by the hearing officer in a manner consistent with his/her findings.
- Eligibility To Test
- A student who is 16 years of age or older who has been instructed pursuant to § 22.1-254.1, as amended, of the Code of Virginia and who has completed such home instruction is eligible to test for the GED.
- Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) and Advanced Program (AP) examinations will be made available to registered home instructed students in grades 9-12.
Legal Reference
Virginia Department of Education, Guidelines for Home Instruction in Virginia - Information for Parents (July 2012), as amended.
Code of Virginia § 22.1-254.1, as amended. Declaration of policy; requirements for home instruction of children.
Code of Virginia § 22.1-254.2, as amended. Testing for general educational development; eligibility, guidelines.
Code of Virginia § 22.1-271.4, as amended. Health requirements for home-instructed, exempted, and excused children.
Approved by Superintendent: July 16, 1991
Revised by Superintendent: September 21, 1993 (Effective August 14, 1993)
Revised by Superintendent: October 8, 1998
Revised by Superintendent: June 11, 2001
Revised by Superintendent: March 17, 2006
Revised by Superintendent: August 29, 2006
Revised by Superintendent: July 1, 2008
Revised by Superintendent: October 18, 2012