Good News! The State Board of Education has approved minimal changes and closed the process for now.

Here's an update from Mary Faiella:

The State Board of Education (SBE) this afternoon briefly discussed and then voted to revise just three sections of the current home education rules. The revisions themselves seem to make only the most basic changes to even this small number of sections -- mostly deleting language that is in conflict with current law. A short discussion of other possibilities resulted in a decision that the remainder of the rules will remain as is for the time being.

This proposal must be reviewed by the Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules in the next month or so, and will then go back to the SBE for 'final adoption.' The 'fixed text' of the 'final proposal' for the three sections will probably be available online in the next few days.

Ed315.03 Eligibility will be revised to recognize the 2007 legislation that changed the compulsory school attendance situation for 16 and 17 year olds, and to update the reference in this section to the special ed law. (315.03 confirms that special needs children may be home educated.)

Ed315.04 Notification was changed to delete the parts of this rule that refer to curriculum components deleted by legislation in 2006, and to update the time constraints changed in 2008. Notification is required within 5 business days of commencing a program or by the first day of school locally for programs continuing from one year to the next. The components of notification will continue to include the name and address of the child and parent, the birthdate of the child, a phone number for the parent, and the date on which the program commences.

Ed315.11 outlines the appointment of members to the Home Education Advisory Council. This section is updated to accommodate legislation in 2008 that called for the appointment of legislators to the Council, which now includes 6 homeschoolers, two representatives of the Department of Education (DOE), one representative each from the School Administrators' Association, the Principals' Associations, the School Boards' Association, and the Non-Public School Advisory Council, as well as two members of the NH House of Representatives and one member of the NH Senate.

The remaining rules will require further review, but the SBE seems to be charting a different course for this next "round" of rule-making, the time-line for which has yet to be determined. The deputy commissioner's post, which had been vacant for quite some time, was given today to Paul Leather, a long-time DOE staffer who has a history of straightforward interactions with homeschoolers, and he is organizing negotiations with the Home Education Advisory Council on the revisions that remain to be made.

Perhaps there will be a few peaceful days ahead.   -- Mary

Mary Faiella was among the homeschoolers who have attended most if not all of these hearings and has worked extensively to advocate for minimal changes within the scope of the law.

We are all grateful to her, members of HEAC, the moms & kids and to all of you who brought friendly yet principled opposition through letters and vigilant attendance at these very long proceedings. We should also acknowledge SBE Board Member Steve L'Heureux for taking ownership of the issue and bringing about such a fair result. Notably, SBE Chair John Lyons promised in the future not to have the DOE working in a vacuum and instead to involve HEAC and homeschoolers early on and throughout the process.

Jim Parison and the CheNH Board of Governors