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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299.1A Compulsory attendance age.
A child who has reached the age of six and is under sixteen years of age by September 15 is of compulsory attendance age.
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.
Privacy Form for Non-Enrolled Student
These option forms are recommended to protect your family's privacy.
They inform school officials that you want protections afforded by federal and state laws.
The form for non-enrolled students notifies school officials of that information about your child --
including directory information -- is confidential information protected by Iowa Code.
Failure to have one of these forms on file with the district and the AEA (where your CPI forms are filed)
can leave your child's information ope...
Iowa School Districts
A listing of all the school districts in Iowa.
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.
299A.4 Annual achievement evaluations--requirements and procedure.
1. Each child of compulsory attendance age who is receiving competent private instruction shall either be evaluated annually by May 1, using a nationally recognized standardized achievement evaluation or other assessment tool developed or recognized by the department of education and chosen by the child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian from a list of approved evaluations or assessment tools provided by the department of education or be evaluated annually in the manner provided in subsecti...
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...
Iowa School Directory
This school directory for the state of Iowa includes public school districts and nonpublic schools.
Iowa Home School Laws from HSLDA
The Home School Legal Defense Association provides a brief summary of the homeschooling laws in Iowa. Includes a link to a legal analysis of laws relating to homeschooling in Iowa.
Homeschool Iowa Foundation
The Homeschool Iowa Foundation was created in December 2012 as a supporting organization of the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators (NICHE). Their mission is to build a legacy of funding and leadership for the advancement of Christian homeschooling and discipleship in Iowa.
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...
281—31.7(299A) Baseline testing and annual assessment.
31.7(1) When required. When a parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a child of compulsory attendance age provides private instruction to a child without the assistance or supervision of a validly licensed Iowa practitioner as required by law and these rules, and the parent, guardian, or legal custodian does not hold a valid Iowa practitioner license appropriate to the ages and grade levels of the child under competent private instruction, the child is subject to initial baseline testing an...
299.3 Reports from accredited nonpublic schools.
Within ten days from receipt of notice from the secretary of the school district within which an accredited nonpublic school is conducted, the principal of the accredited nonpublic school shall, once during each school year, and at any time when requested in individual cases, furnish to the secretary of the public school district, within which the accredited nonpublic school is located, a certificate and report in duplicate on forms provided by the public school district of the names and ages of...
The Iowa Legislature
This website includes links to the Senate and House sections, legislators' contacts, pending legislation, and more.
299A.6 Failure to make adequate progress.
If the results of evaluations, administered to a child of compulsory attendance age who is under competent private instruction, indicate that the student has failed to make adequate progress, the parent, guardian, or legal custodian shall cause the child to attend an accredited public or nonpublic school at the beginning of the next school year unless, before the beginning of the next school year, the child retakes a different form of the same evaluation, or another evaluation from the approved ...
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Featured Resources
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Discovery of the Child
Maria Montessori went beyond the conventions of the day to seek a new way of knowing and loving a child. In THE DISCOVERY OF THE CHILD, she describes the nature of the child and her method of working more fully with the child's urge to learn. With 16...
Home Education: A Homeschooling Classic
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