Getting Started, Letter of Intent
How Do I Home School In Montana?
Montana is a great place to grow kids! And it’s also a great place to home school! Through careful monitoring of legislative actions, the Montana Coalition of Home Educators, along with help from YCHE members, has successfully fought to keep the rights of Montana parents to home educate relatively unencumbered by our state government. The below information is tailored for Yellowstone County. Compliance with the home education statue* is simple – just follow these steps.
1. Write a letter to the Superintendent of Education in YOUR County. Inform him that you will be home schooling your children for the 2008/2009 school year. In Yellowstone County send it to: Mr. AJ Micheletti, Yellowstone County Superintendent of Schools, P.O. Box 35022, Billings, MT 59107.
2. The Superintendent will then send you a thick packet of information – don’t panic! You may keep the packet for future reference…or not. By law, upon request, we must give the County Superintendent a copy of immunization records and previous year’s attendance records. The packet contains a blanket request for immunizations and attendance records, thus, after receiving the packet, you must send in these two items. You do not need to use any reporting form in the packet.
3. Make sure all your children’s immunization records are up to date. After you receive the large packet from the County Superintendent, send the immunization records to him. If they already have your child’s records, then only resend the records when there is an update. No sense in duplicating year after year.
4. IF you have religious grounds for NOT immunizing your child(ren), you may wish to claim an exemption from the Montana School Immunization Law and Rules. The exemption document (HES-113) is provided for you in the packet. It will need to be notarized before you return it.
5. Another area of compliance with the Montana Home School Statute* is that of keeping attendance records for your children. The Statute states that each child must be provided with “the minimum aggregate hours of pupil instruction in accordance with 20-1-301 . . .”. The minimum hours for students are as follows:
Grades 1-3 = 720 hours of pupil instruction
Grades 4-12 = 1,080 hours of pupil instruction
However, the Statute does not specify that all of the learning must take place in your home. Field trips and other outside learning experiences may be counted. The academic/fiscal “year” in Montana is from July 1 to June 30 of the following year, so keep track of your school hours beginning July 1 of each academic year. There are many forms you can purchase for attendance tracking, or you can make your own.
After you receive the packet from the County Superintendent, send in the hours from the previous school year. Please note, you do NOT have to send in your attendance sheet, only state the total hours. A statement as simple as: “We have met the minimum aggregate hours of pupil instruction in accordance with 20-1-301.” is acceptable.
To wrap it up, here are the basic requirements:
1. Notify the Superintendent of Schools in YOUR county that you are home schooling your children.
2. Maintain immunization records, and send them in after you receive the packet if this is your first year home schooling or if there have been any changes in your child’s record since you last sent them in.
3. Maintain attendance records and send a note stating that you have met the requirements of instruction for the previous year after you receive the packet.
Remember, the above information is tailored for Yellowstone County. Please don’t hesitate to contact YCHE if you have any questions regarding the Montana Home Education Statute*. Please find a copy of the Statute at Steve White’s informative website at http://mtche.org/mchelaw.htm *The Statute only applies to home schooled children between the ages of 7 & 16.