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Concerned Family Declines Evaluation
After taking their young son to their family doctor, a Home School Legal Defense Association member family on Oahu was referred to the local public school. The doctor, who made the referral, was apparently concerned that Mr. and Mrs. Kern’s (name changed to protect family’s privacy) son was progressing too slowly in his reading.
When Mr. and Mrs. Kern were contacted by the public school, they felt pressured into agreeing to permit an evaluation of their son by school officials. However, after thinking it over, Mr. and Mrs. Kern decided that they would continue to work on their son's reading at home.
Among other objections, the Kerns felt that many of the unrelated evaluations the school officials wanted to do were unnecessary, since the only issue with their son was a slight reading difficulty. School officials also wanted to come into the Kerns' home and observe their homeschool program.
The Kerns contacted HSLDA for support in communicating their decision to the public school. On their behalf, staff attorney Thomas Schmidt wrote a letter to the school officials. He informed the school that the family declined the evaluations but would continue to meet their son’s needs privately.
If you have a child who is a struggling learner, please check out HSLDA’s great resources at www.hslda.org/strugglinglearner.
— by Thomas J. Schmidt
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