Homeschool Law in the United States of America: Hawaii

"The Department has a legitimate interest in and responsibility for the appropriate education of all school age children in the State of Hawaii and recognizes homeschooling as an alternative to compulsory school attendance. Homeschooling is a parent-initiated educational alternative."

Regulations: "Read the rules and refer to them when dealing with school officials. Most of the problems that arise between parents and school officials are due to simple misunderstanding of the administrative rules. Do not rely on school personnel to tell you what to do. Contact a support group if you need help. Here is a brief description of some of the rules."

"The summaries below describe two different approaches, or alternative ways, the state of Hawaii offers homeschooling families to meet state compulsory education requirements. Additional and more extensive help may be found within our e-book: Hawaii Homeschool Legal Workbook: Your Guide to Compliance - Facts & Forms, prepared by HomeSchoolLegal.com."

"School age children may be excepted from compulsory school attendance in the following cases:
(d) Requests for exceptions due to identified disabilities shall be renewed annually."

"(a) The parent shall provide the local public school principal with a notice of intent to home educate the child before initiating home schooling. The purpose of notification is to allow the department, upon request of the parent, to assist in the educational efforts. The notice of intent may be submitted on a department developed form (Form 4140) or in a letter containing the following items:

(1) Name, address, and telephone number of the child;

(2) Birthdate and grade level of the child; and

(3) Signature of the parent."

"The parent shall notify the principal if home schooling is terminated. A child shall be re-enrolled in the local public school or licensed private school unless a new alternative educational program is presented within five school days after the termination of home schooling."

"(a) Test scores shall be required for grades identified in the Statewide Testing Program, grades three, five, eight, and ten. A child is eligible to participate in the Statewide Testing Program at the local public school. The parent is responsible for securing necessary details from the principal of the local public school. The parent may elect to arrange for private testing at the parent's own expense. The tests used shall be comparable to the appropriate criterion or norm-referenced tests used by the department in the grades concerned. The parent may request and the principal may approve other means of evaluation to meet the Statewide Testing Program requirements."

"A parent teaching the parent's child at home shall be deemed a qualified instructor."

"(a) A home-schooled child who wants to earn a high school diploma from the local public high school shall attend high school for a minimum of three full years and meet the credit requirements for graduation. Satisfactory performance on the Hawaii State Test of Essential Competencies (HSTEC) is also required.

(b) A home-schooled child who wants to earn a high school diploma from the community school for adults shall meet the following requirements:

(1) Be at least sixteen years of age, except in the case of emancipated minors;

(2) Have been home-schooled for at least one semester under Hawaii's home-schooling procedures; and

(3) Take and achieve a satisfactory score on the General Educational Development (GED) test.

The diploma shall be awarded by the community school for adults."

"A child who is being home schooled may participate in any college entrance examination which is made available to all other students. The principal of the local public high school shall, upon request, supply written acknowledgement that a child has been home schooled in compliance with the requirements of this chapter.”

"Notification of Intent to Home School
1. All parents choosing to home school their children must notify the local public school principal by:
a. Completing Form OCISS 4140 (Rev. 8/11), Exceptions to Compulsory Education (Top portion with
student information: name, student ID number, birth date, telephone number, address, school, complex
area, grade; Section A name of parent/guardian, signature and date; and Section B indicating with an
“X” “Homeschooling” and inserting the date); or
b. Submitting a letter with a statement of intent to home school the child(ren) and containing the
following information:
• Name, address, and telephone number of the child;
• Birth date and grade level of the child; and
• Signature of the parent and date of signature."