Indiana Homeschool Issues

In recent years, more and more Indianans have seen the benefits of choosing educational autonomy for their families. Homeschooling has allowed many parents to invest in rich, high-quality, and tailored learning experiences for their children—-and allowed families both in Indiana and nationwide to spend time learning at home and with others in homeschool communities designed to help young students thrive.

This approach to education comes with many benefits, but it's not without its own set of challenges. Many states, Indiana included, have complex laws about homeschooling. There are legal hurdles to consider, as well as potential allegations you need to be aware of. If you're homeschooling your students, it's critical that you know your rights, are aware of Indiana's compliance requirements, and (importantly!) who to call if you require assistance with a legal matter. The Lento Law Firm's Education Law Team is ready to guide Indiana's homeschooling families through any challenges that may lie ahead. Call our team at 888.535.3686 or tell us about your case to get started.

What Challenges Await Indiana's Homeschoolers?

While Indiana's homeschool regulations are flexible in comparison to those of other states, there are still hurdles that parents need to consider when deciding to educate their children at home. In Indiana, specifically, home-based educators need to be aware of the following factors:

1. Voluntary registration. Indiana doesn't require homeschoolers to register with the state—something that makes it quite unique. However, families can choose to report their homeschool setup through Indiana's Department of Education. While you might wonder why you'd opt into registration, it can be helpful: It serves as a way to document the existence of a homeschooling setup but doesn't necessarily serve as a basis for regulatory purposes.
2. The pros and cons of minimal oversight. While Indiana may have fewer compulsory regulations surrounding homeschooling, this can present challenges, too. If any entity ever questions your compliance with the existing compulsory education laws, your family will need your own independent records to demonstrate that compliance.
3. Indiana's flexible curriculum requirements. Other states have extremely specific rules guiding curriculum choice for homeschooling families. For the most part, Indiana home educators have the freedom to choose what they want to teach their children, which gives parents the ability to give their children a custom learning plan catered to their interests, learning styles, and needs. There are many perks to this flexibility. It does, however, place the responsibility on the parents to ensure that their at-home teaching provides an equivalent education to the one offered in public schools. This equivalency isn't defined by state law. As a result, disputes can arise about what is considered adequate education, especially if a homeschooling family is challenged about their educational practices by local authorities.
4. Required instructional days. Indiana's law does require that homeschooling families provide an instructional period equivalent to that of public schools, or 180 days per academic year. The state has this requirement in place to make sure that homeschooled students have a consistent education and don't fall behind their peers. Homeschooling families in Indiana will need to schedule and document their days carefully to make sure that they can demonstrate their children received those 180 days of instruction.
5. Assessments and record-keeping. While Indiana's state guidelines don't mandate participation in standardized testing, parents are encouraged to maintain thorough academic records, copies of assessments, examples of work, any standardized testing their children do participate in, and anything else that demonstrates educational progress. These records are helpful for administrative purposes, but they'll be essential if your student wants to re-enroll in a public school or pursue higher education.
6. Legal responsibilities. The laws in Indiana allow parents significant rights to direct their children's education. This does mean that parents need to be proactive about understanding their responsibility to provide an adequate education and demonstrate the adequacy of that education if someone with the authority to request that information does so. The Education Law Team from the Lento Law Firm can help you navigate any complex legal situations you and your family find yourself in.

Of course, this does beg the question: What problems do homeschooling families face?

Common Legal Challenges Faced by Homeschooling Families

Given the relative freedom offered by Indiana state law, you might think that conflicts with local or state authorities would be few and far between for homeschooling families.

For some families, this is the experience. Others find that lax regulations and openly interpretable definitions lead to more conflicts than expected.

Some conflicts to keep an eye out for can include:

1. Conflicts with the Indiana State Department of Education. From time to time, throughout your child's education, the state DOE could request documentation that you do not believe you need to provide. For example, even though Indiana does not require reporting, if a state authority alleges that you have not been providing an adequate educational environment, suddenly, reports could be required without your understanding of why. The Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm can help you meet all state guidelines while defending your right to make educational decisions.
2. Issues with Local School Districts. If your students are withdrawing from public schools in order to pursue homeschooling, or if your homeschooled students are interested in participating in public school resources, you may experience challenges.
   For example, your school district may deny your homeschooled students access to activities like special education services, sports teams, or musical groups. Whether you need assistance formalizing your public school withdrawal procedures to avoid allegations of truancy or demonstrating your child's right to extracurricular activities, the Lento Law Firm is ready to assist.
3. Zoning and Regulatory Compliance. Let's say that you're participating in or helping operate a homeschool cooperative, or a group of families who help educate their children (or participate in educational activities, like theater or sports) together on a regular basis. It's not outside the realm of possibility that your coop could be incorrectly classified as a daycare by Indiana's licensing boards—-which would open you up to unwanted regulatory and compliance demands. You could end up facing false accusations of operating an unlicensed daycare, or even needing to manage zoning disputes. (Let us handle those for you!)

These aren't even the totality of what you could experience. For example, there are the following further challenges you could face:

• Compulsory attendance disputes
• Thorny questions about testing requirements
• Conflicts about the support and resources you're able to access at your local school (especially regarding students with special needs)
• Re-enrollment and credit transfer issues, if anyone disputes your students' ability to use homeschool credits
• Vaccine requirements, if anyone questions your students' ability to participate in public school activities
• Religious freedom issues, especially if state educational requirements or practices conflict with your religious beliefs
• Accusations of abuse, if anyone alleges that you're not taking appropriate responsibility for your child's education
• Negotiations and conflicts with any designated homeschool liaisons over any misunderstandings or misinterpretations of relevant homeschooling regulations

No matter the nature of the unfounded accusations or frustrating challenges you face as a homeschooling parent in Indiana, the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm will be ready to help you protect your family's rights.

Here's Exactly How the Lento Law Firm Can Help Homeschooling Families in Indiana

If you're homeschooling in Indiana, you already have enough on your plate. (Homeschooling itself is a time full-time job!) Doing the additional work to realize that you've been a victim of a legal oversight or that people are attacking your family unfairly can feel daunting.

We're here to help. Here's a step-by-step guide for Indiana homeschooling families to help you identify potential issues, realize your rights, and connect with the Lento Law Firm for the assistance you deserve.

1. Identify your issue at hand. Whether an education administrative is questioning the number of educational days your family engaged in last year or wondering about the adequacy of your homeschooling setup, determine what, precisely, you're being challenged about. If you need help identifying this, the Lento Law Firm is ready to assist. Are you being denied access to public school resources, or has your coop been mistakenly classified as a daycare? Regardless, we can help—but knowing what you're working with from the very beginning is key.
2. Realize that you have rights. While suddenly being questioned about your ability to educate your children well can be very scary, in Indiana, you have the right and freedom (for the most part) to educate your children as you choose. You do need to make sure that your education is equivalent to that offered in a public school, but outside of that expectation, you have significant autonomy. If anyone is demanding something more specific of you than documentation of your educational approach and records of educational days and relevant assessments, it's time to call in the Lento Law Firm to support you and your family.
3. Document, document, document. When you reach out to the Lento Law Firm, it'll be helpful if you've already documented many aspects of the issue, including:

• A log of all interactions you've had with public officials, school administrators, and Indiana regulatory groups
• Any evidence of those interactions, which may include official notices, letters, and emails
• Any details that you can find regarding the challenges you've experienced, which may include denial of resources, dates of those denials or obstacles, the names of any people who were involved in these challenges, and how these situations have impacted your child's ability to enjoy a high-quality education.

The next step—and the single most effective thing you can do to protect your family's right to educate your child or children as you see fit—is to retain the premier services of the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm. This may seem like an escalation or premature, but it's not. The earlier you can get our team involved, the easier it will be for you to achieve an optimal outcome for your family.

And the consequences of underestimating the challenges before you and failing to act a timely manner can be severe. Contacting the Lento Law Firm can help you avoid expensive, stressful, and traumatic accusations or even legal proceedings for your entire family.

What Happens After You Contact the Lento Law Firm?

Once you've gathered information and contacted the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm, we'll get to work helping you:

• Protect your rights. We'll immediately complete a thorough dive into your challenge, any associated paperwork, and the regulations at hand. We'll identify and correct registration errors, help you advocate against any unfounded accusations, and help you make sure that no one is infringing upon your homeschooling rights in Indiana.
• Navigate complicated education regulations. Although Indiana laws are relatively lax for homeschoolers, they're not exactly easy to understand! The Lento Law Firm's Education Law Team will help you understand local and state regulations that apply to you and your situation (so you can spend less time on legal requirements and more time enjoying educating your children).
• Advocate for your rights. If you're facing any thorny disputes, frustrating discrimination, or odd denial of access to resources that your child needs, the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm will be happy to help you advocate for your best possible outcome and provide any representation necessary.

If you're facing legal uncertainty or conflicts with educational authorities in Indiana, the Lento Law Firm is here to assist with the advocacy and legal counsel your family deserves. To retain our services and tell us about your challenges, give the Lento Law Firm a call today at 888.535.3686, or simply fill out this brief form, and we'll be in touch in a timely manner.