In Lee County and wanting to start homeschooling?

Re: Reported issue in Lee County

I have been informed that Lee County's home education department is not following Florida law in regard to letters of intent to start Home Education--That they have told some families that they cannot remove their children from a public school to start homeschooling until the marking period is over and grades are posted. This is not in line with Florida law, which specifically states that the letter of intent is to be immediately recorded once it is sent.

If you are someone who has been told by the Home Education personnel of Lee county that your letter of intent cannot be processed until the end of the marking period I suggest the following:

My recommendation (based on experience in previous experiences with other districts) is to have each of these families resend their letters of intent attached to the response from the school district and clearly state that they have sent the letter of intent and wish it to be recorded immediately as required by Florida law.

They should include not only the Home Education contact on the email, but also the superintendent and also Sandy Eggers of the Florida Department of education. She is the director of Home Education for the entire state. Her job is to help in situations in which the district is not doing as they should. This is exactly the sort of situation that she should be included on.

Her email is
[email protected]

I would also like to be included on it so that I can help if this is not directly taken care of. My email address is
[email protected]

The families should also include the local school that they are withdrawing their student from on this email.
Cheryl Trzasko
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*Lee
Dr. Denise Carlin, Superintendent
E-mail: [email protected]
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Lee
Dawn Robertson Andre
Home Education Contact
[email protected]

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Together, pushing back like this is how we keep from losing freedom as homeschool families.

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(a) The parent, as defined in s. 1000.21, who establishes and maintains a home education program shall notify the district school superintendent of the county in which the parent resides of her or his intent to establish and maintain a home education program. The notice must be in writing, signed by the parent, and include the full legal names, addresses, and birthdates of all children who shall be enrolled as students in the home education program. The notice must be filed in the district school superintendent’s office within 30 days of the establishment of the home education program.
(b) The district school superintendent shall accept the notice and immediately register the home education program upon receipt of the notice. The district may not require any additional information or verification from the parent unless the student chooses to participate in a school district program or service. The district school superintendent may not assign a grade level to the home education student or include a social security number or any other personal information of the student in any school district or state database unless the student chooses to participate in a school district program or service." From Florida law

Florida Home Education Law