Home School Monitoring

No Pre-Requisites

District Responsibilities

The District will designate a point person who is responsible for collecting the annual Letter of Intent, the IHIP, the quarterly reports and the Annual Assessment from the home-schooling families. Districts will forward the reports to our office via email to be reviewed for compliance by the Home School Monitor. Specific procedures are developed to review and approve the reports between the Erie 1 BOCES Home School Monitor and the participating districts. The District contact should maintain a listing of all the Home-Schooling students and record when reports are received by the district.

The District is also responsible for following up with non-compliant families by keeping records on the number of requests for the IHIP and/or quarterly reports. If attempts to contact the family are unsuccessful, the district may send a district representative or SRO to the home to investigate. If non-compliance continues, the District is responsible for contacting CPS to make a report of possible educational neglect.

The District remains the primary contact person and the liaison between the home-schooling families and the Home School Monitor. The District’s designated point person will forward sample forms and respond to standard questions or issues to the families as needed, but may contact Home School Monitor for assistance at any time.  For more in-depth requests or issues, the District point person may forward the questions or concerns to the Home School Monitor. The Home School Monitor will respond and forward sample forms, various resources or supporting documentation that can be emailed back to the parent. In special circumstances, the Home School Monitor may speak directly to parent when warranted or requested.

BOCES Responsibilities

Erie 1 BOCES provides a NYS Administratively certified employee to act as the Home School Monitor for the School District. The Home School monitor will:

• Set up electronic procedures to receive all home-schooling documentation from the District’s designated point of contact person.
• Review and respond to all home-schooling documentation required by Commissioner’s Regulations Part 100 and NYSED: IHIPs, quarterly reports, and annual assessments.
• Reply to the District contact with an Approval Letter to be forwarded to the families.
• Maintain a list of all Home-Schooling students by District with dates IHIPs and Quarterly Reports are approved.
• Communicate with District contact regarding inadequate documentation and provide instructions for family to make corrections. Various guidance documents, resources and sample reports are also provided on an as needed basis. Assistance in drafting letters of deficiency for noncompliant families can be provided to the districts if needed.
• Communicate with District contact to answer questions from district personnel or the Home-Schooling families and/or to send sample forms or other resources as needed.
• Visit the instructional setting on an as needed basis. Provide support on the process to new district contacts as needed.
• Maintain record of courses taken by High School Home-Schooled students to ensure that they meet all the requirements for substantial equivalency for the four years of high school education per Commissioner's Regulation Section 100.10. Provide Letters of Completion upon request of the parents.
• Provide sample template forms for the Individualized Home Instruction Plan (IHIP) and quarterly reports for the districts to share with the families.
• Submit an annual report to Superintendent of Schools.