CHEYENNE—It’s now up to Gov. Mark Gordon to decide whether Wyoming homeschool parents will continue to be required to submit their curriculum to the local school district after the state Legislature passed a bill to end this requirement Monday.
House Bill 46, “Homeschool Freedom Act,” passed the state Senate with bipartisan support on a 28-2 vote, with one member excused. Without any amendments added in the upper chamber, the bill will head straight to the governor’s desk for either his signature, his veto or to become law without his signature.
The bill’s primary sponsor, Rep. Tomi Strock, R-Douglas, has told both House and Senate Education Committee members that parents should have the right to homeschool their children without government interference. Several Laramie County homeschool parents have testified in support of the bill, saying the process of submitting their curriculum to the local school district is “confusing.”
Wyoming Association of School Administrators Executive Director Boyd Brown said during a recent Senate Education Committee meeting that public school superintendents also stood in support of the bill.
“We do nothing with evaluating (homeschool curriculum),” Brown said.
When the bill was heard in the Senate Education Committee, Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, asked whether school districts will still at least be notified of a child being homeschooled. Experts confirmed a parent would still have to tell the school of their intent when they pull the child out for homeschooling. Parents who never sent their child to public school would not be responsible for notifying the school district of their intent to homeschool, however.
Wyoming Department of Family Services Director Korin Schmidt previously testified this bill would make it difficult to investigate cases of educational neglect. The submitted curriculum to the school district is a way for investigators to confirm the child is being educated at home, she said.
“It’s a tool that will no longer be there,” Schmidt said. “But we will continue to work around it and do our investigations regardless.”
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