(The Lion) — Homeschool families are questioning changes to the Kansas Department of Education’s online registration form, which now demands more information than is required under state law.
“A school custodian must submit the name and address of the school when registering,” explains homeschool nonprofit Midwest Parent Educators (MPE) in a social media post referring to Kansas Statutes Annotated 72-4346.
“The law does NOT require school custodians to provide a phone number, email address, estimated number of students, or grades offered.”
However, the department’s website has added these fields and made them required if families wish to submit the online registration form successfully.
When contacted by The Lion, the department acknowledged changes to its form, saying the non-required fields would be removed.
“If anyone has any questions, they are welcome to contact us directly,” Denise Kahler, the department’s director of communications and recognition programs, told The Lion.
However, the online form still featured the non-required fields at the time of publication.
The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) nonprofit recommends Kansas homeschoolers complete a paper registration form instead, sending it to the state department via certified mail, until the online form is changed.
Both HSLDA and MPE have sent letters to the state department noting the changes and requesting the non-required fields be removed as soon as possible.
‘A serious breach of trust’
The local homeschool community reacted quickly to the news, with several families voicing concerns over privacy and government overreach.
“This is so important to stand against,” commented Emily Goodwin on MPE’s Facebook post. “Laws can slowly become more restrictive over time! This seems so reasonable right? If they keep adding more and more what will those forms look like when our grandchildren register their homeschools!”
Kansas classifies homeschools as non-accredited private schools, or NAPS, under state law.
The registration process should occur only once unless the homeschool needs to update its information or mark itself as “inactive,” e.g. after all its students have left or graduated.
HSLDA has warned of government overreach concerning homeschools in other locations nationwide.
For example, West Virginia’s state board of education in 2022 was caught unlawfully collecting information on homeschooled students even after they had left their public-school district.
“Education authorities at both the state and county level have proven that they cannot be trusted to ‘oversee’ homeschooling,” HSLDA attorney Michael Donnelly wrote at the time. “This is a serious breach of trust and demonstrates why West Virginia homeschoolers must persuade legislators to protect our children from overreaching state authorities.”
Some calling for more homeschool regulations nationwide
The changes on the department’s website form come during a time of concerted media effort calling for more regulations on homeschooling.
In one recent example, the editors of Scientific American argued homeschooling could hurt children, calling this educational method “barely tracked or regulated.”
A flurry of rejoinders ensued from parental rights advocates such as Kerry McDonald, senior education fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education.
“Many parents choose homeschooling because government-run schooling is not protecting their children, who may be bullied or abused by peers or school personnel,” McDonald wrote at the time of the editorial’s publication.
“Homeschooling families don’t need more regulations – and certainly not from the federal government, which should have no role in education policy. Perhaps those who think the government knows best on education should work on improving government-run schools rather than coming after the millions of homeschooling families choosing something different.”
