Legal/Homeschool Laws
Laws that regulate home education vary from state to state. It is important to understand the legal requirements in your state and to be aware of legislative and other legal issues that affect homeschoolers in your community. We've compiled resources that will help you become informed. Although homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, and the vast majority of homeschoolers face no problems, you may find that you need legal assistance at some point in your homeschooling career. We've compiled a list of resources to help you find the support you need. And if you'd like to become more involved in working towards homeschooling freedoms, we discuss some of the issues facing homeschoolers that we hope you find compelling.
State Laws
Read the laws regulating home education in Iowa and browse through the case law and legal opinions relating to those laws, along with government publications relating to homeschooling and summaries of the laws.
Forms
Which forms do you need to fill out? Where can you get them? Here is a list of useful forms for homeschooling in Iowa.
Legal Support
If you need legal information or have run into a legal situation regarding your decision to homeschool, these resources will be helpful.
Lobbying Groups
A listing of local and national lobbying groups and information on how you can become involved in the political process to ensure the freedom to homeschool is protected.
Attorneys
When searching for an attorney, it is helpful to know whether he or she has experience working with homeschoolers and is interested in protecting the right to homeschool.
Legal Issues
Is homeschooling legal? Which laws pertain to homeschoolers and which don't? How do homeschoolers protect their rights to freely educate their children and to preserve their privacy?
Government Resources
A listing of local and state government resources, including your state's Department of Education, school districts, and Senate and House of Representative information.
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The Iowa Legislature
This website includes links to the Senate and House sections, legislators' contacts, pending legislation, and more.
299A.1 Private instruction.
The parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a child of compulsory attendance age who places the child under private instruction shall provide, unless otherwise exempted, competent private instruction in accordance with this chapter. A parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a child of compulsory attendance age who places the child under private instruction which is not competent private instruction, or otherwise fails to comply with the requirements of this chapter, is subject to the provisions ...
Certificate of Immunization Exemption
This document must be filed with your CPI form if you intend to use the exemption for immunizations. Those using IPI or CPI Option 2 with Opt-Out do not need to file immunization records.
299A.2 Competent private instruction by licensed practitioner.
If a licensed practitioner provides competent instruction to a child of compulsory attendance age, the practitioner shall possess a valid license or certificate which has been issued by the state board of educational examiners under chapter 272 and which is appropriate to the ages and grade levels of the children to be taught. Competent private instruction may include, but is not limited to, a home school assistance program which provides instruction or instructional supervision offered through ...
299.1B Failure to attend--loss of driver's license.
A person who does not attend a public school, an accredited nonpublic school, competent private instruction in accordance with the provisions of chapter 299A, an alternative school, adult education classes, or who is not employed at least twenty hours per week shall not receive a motor vehicle operator's license until age eighteen. A person under age eighteen who has been issued a motor vehicle operator's license who does not attend a public school, an accredited nonpublic school, competent priv...
Report of Portfolio Assessment Results Form
This optional form is offered to make the portfolio evaluator's job much easier.
It provides an efficient tool to assure that all of the required information is included in
the portfolio evaluation results report.
Contract for Home School Consultation
This optional contract is provided to help define and delineate the rights and responsibilities of both parties in a homeschool consultation arrangement: the parents and the teacher. Attorneys with HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) assisted in its production.
Receipt for CPI Form Filing
This form may be used by a parent using the Independent Private Instruction (IPI) option when filing an IPI Response Form. A signature of the school distirct official receiving the form is obtained, and the parent can retain this receipt with homeschool records.
299.4 Reports as to private instruction.
The parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a child who is of compulsory attendance age, who places the child under competent private instruction under either section 299A.2 or 299A.3, not in an accredited school or a home school assistance program operated by a public or accredited nonpublic school, shall furnish a report in duplicate on forms provided by the public school district, to the district by the earliest starting date specified in section 279.10, subsection 1. The secretary shall reta...
Optional Report Form for CPI Option 2 with Opt-Out (no reporting required)
This report form can be used by parents who are providing private instruction under the CPI Option 2 with Opt-Out.
While all reporting is optional under this option, parents can file this form to notify their resident school district officials that they are providing private instruction to students of compulsory school attendance age.
Private Instruction (Home Schooling)
Private Instruction is instruction using a plan and a course of study in a setting other than a public or organized accredited nonpublic school. It includes competent private instruction (CPI) by a licensed practitioner or a nonlicensed person, independent private instruction (IPI), home school assistance programs (HSAP), and non-accredited nonpublic schools.
Report of Portfolio Evaluator Selection Form
If you will be using the portfolio evaluation method, you may find this simple optional form helpful.
When filled out and submitted to your resident school district, it provides a mechanism to fulfill
the legal requirement of seeking the school district superintendent's approval of your selected
portfolio evaluator. This approval process is simply a check of the appropriateness of your
evaluator's license.
Home School Supervising Teacher Visitation Log
This optional easy-to-use form is offered to help supervising teachers keep the required log of their visits with homeschooling families.
299A.5 Reporting of evaluation results.
The results of evaluations administered to children of compulsory attendance age who are under competent private instruction shall be reported by the evaluation administrator to the child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian, the school district of residence of the child, and the department of education. Personally identifiable information relating to or contained in the evaluation scores is confidential and shall not be released without the prior consent of the child's parent, guardian, or cu...
299A.3 Private instruction by nonlicensed person.
A parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a child of compulsory attendance age providing competent private instruction to the child shall meet all of the following requirements:
1. Complete and send, in a timely manner, the report required under section 299.4 to the school district of residence of the child.
2. Ensure that the child under the parent's, guardian's, or legal custodian's instruction is evaluated annually to determine whether the child is making adequate progress, as defin...
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