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 Missouri 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 Missouri.
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.
What's Popular
Coordinating Board for Higher Education - Title IV Assistance
The Missouri Department of Higher Education explains Title IV assistance for home educated students. While the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 provided for the eligibility of a home schooled student to receive federal student financial assistance, Congress did not provide a parallel provision for home schooled students in the statutes that define institutional eligibility. Therefore, the USDE first announced in a private guidance letter issued to the Home School Legal Defense Association in ...
Section 167.071 School attendance officers in seven-director districts, powers and duties--powers of police officers in certain areas.
167.071. 1. In school districts having seven or more directors the school board may appoint and remove at pleasure one or more school attendance officers and shall pay them from the public school funds.
2. Each attendance officer has the powers of a deputy sheriff in the performance of his duties. He shall investigate the claims of children for exemptions under section 167.031, and report his findings to the person authorized by that section to grant the exemption sought. He shall refer all ...
Logging Homeschool Hours
Homeschooling parents in the State of Missouri are required by law to keep a plan book, diary, or other written record showing subjects taught and educational activities engaged in. (RSMo167.031) They are also required to keep samples of the student’s academic work, and a record of the evaluations of the student’s academic progress.
Home Schooling Information
The current statutory provisions for home schooling are summarized by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Families for Home Education (FHE) Legislative Updates
Read on the latest lobbying efforts and pending legislation for possible impact on home education rights.
Families for Home Education (FHE)
The purpose of FHE is to protect the inalienable right of parents in Missouri to teach their own children without state regulation and control.
Section 167.042 Home school, declaration of enrollment, contents--filing with recorder of deeds or chief school officer--fee.
167.042. For the purpose of minimizing unnecessary investigations due to reports of truancy, each parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the child who causes his child to attend regularly a home school may provide to the recorder of deeds of the county where the child legally resides, or to the chief school officer of the public school district where the child legally resides, a signed, written declaration of enrollment stating their intent for the child to attend a home school within...
Section 167.031 School attendance compulsory, who may be excused--nonattendance, penalty--home school, definition, requirements--school year defined--daily log, defense to prosecution--compulsory attendance age for the district defined.
167.031. 1. Every parent, guardian or other person in this state having charge, control or custody of a child not enrolled in a public, private, parochial, parish school or full-time equivalent attendance in a combination of such schools and between the ages of seven years and the compulsory attendance age for the district is responsible for enrolling the child in a program of academic instruction which complies with subsection 2 of this section. Any parent, guardian or other person who enrolls ...
Section 211.031 Juvenile court to have exclusive jurisdiction, when--exceptions--home schooling, attendance violations, how treated.
211.031. 1. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the juvenile court or the family court in circuits that have a family court as provided in sections 487.010 to 487.190, RSMo, shall have exclusive original jurisdiction in proceedings:
(1) Involving any child or person seventeen years of age who may be a resident of or found within the county and who is alleged to be in need of care and treatment because:
(a) The parents, or other persons legally responsible for the care and suppo...
Sample Missouri Homeschoolers' Daily Log Sheet - Part II
These log sheets can help keep track of daily/weekly homeschool activities. Designed for single child use--make copies for multiple children.
Section 167.052 Applicability of compulsory attendance and part-time school requirements for metropolitan school districts.
167.052. The provisions of sections 167.031 and 167.051 affecting a metropolitan school district shall be effective for the school year beginning 2007-2008 and shall terminate after the school year ending 2011- 2012.
Section 167.051 Compulsory attendance of part-time schools.
167.051. 1. If a school board establishes part-time schools or classes for children under seventeen years of age, lawfully engaged in any regular employment, every parent, guardian or other person having charge, control or custody of such a child shall cause the child to attend the school not less than four hours a week between the hours of eight o'clock in the morning and five o'clock in the evening during the school year of the part-time classes.
2. All children who are under eighteen year...
Compulsory Attendance and Part-Time Public School Enrollment
A list of common questions and answers regarding the compulsory attendance laws in Missouri.
Section 210.167 Report to school district on violations of compulsory school attendance law--referral by school district to prosecutor, when.
210.167. If an investigation conducted by the division of family services pursuant to section 210.145 reveals that the only basis for action involves a question of an alleged violation of section 167.031, RSMo, then the local office of the division shall send the report to the school district in which the child resides. The school district shall immediately refer all private, parochial, parish or home school matters to the prosecuting attorney of the county wherein the child legally resides. The...
Missouri LoggerRhythms
A database program for homeschool record keeping according to Missouri Law.
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Featured Resources
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Learning Styles: Reaching Everyone God Gave You to Teach
This book offers helpful and practical strategies about the different ways that kids acquire information and learn, and then use that knowledge. Kids' behavior is often tied to a particular learning style and understanding that fact will help parents...
But What About Socialization? Answering the Perpetual Home Schooling Question: A Review of the Literature
This book by Dr. Susan A. McDowell uses research, statistics, and the experiences of homeschooling families to answer questions and counter myths about homeschooling and socialization. Read through a discussion of the multiple meanings of socia...
Handbook of Nature Study
A matchless handbook for decades, this classic work has been the natural history bible for countless teachers and others who seek information about their environment. Written originally for those elementary school teachers who knew little of common p...
The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook
If you are thinking about homeschooling, or are struggling with a educational homeschooling curriculum that is difficult to use, let Dr. Ray and Dorothy Moore show you how to make homeschooling an easy-to-live-with family adventure in learning. This ...
A History of Science
A History of Science is not a textbook, but is a guide to help parents and children study science through literature. It is intended for children in elementary grades.