Swan River Schools to form homeschooling policy

Swan River Schools to form homeschooling policy

Swan River School District No. 4 discussed forming a policy regarding homeschooled children picking and choosing which classes to attend throughout the day during their Jan. 10 meeting. The topic arose due to a homeschooled child wanting to participate in sixth grade band and math, but the district currently holds no set policy for this type of request.

“I talked to other districts about how to handle a request like that, the response was if it's an elective and we have space out there then it's an olive branch to extend,” Principal Peter Loyda said. “There's a second request that came with that for their daughter to take a math class, but this needs to come to the board for approval.  …It's best to develop a policy on how to handle this in the future.”

State law allows for public schools to work with homeschooled children, but once the student exceeds 180 hours he or she would be required to take state testing for all subjects, including the ones not enrolled in at the school.

“We could be positive about this and spin it for parents to get a tutor for their kid rather than having them pick and choose classes so their kid can get the education they need,” board member Eddie Crutsinger said.

Board member Dawn Dowellgrim was concerned the school would be vulnerable to lawsuits should the school refuse future requests.

According to Loyda, once a family opts for homeschooling there's no obligation for the school to offer classes for the student unless they choose to enroll full or part-time.

“If they want to pick and choose classes, we don't have an obligation to say yes to that,” Loyda said. “In this particular case that teacher is going to work with the student, it's a handshake agreement. The student wants to be part of the band and the teacher is ok with it, it's a nice gesture.”

No decision was made at the Jan. 10 board meeting, but the gears are turning and a final decision will come soon. Their next board meeting was moved to Feb. 7 due to their regularly scheduled on falling on Valentine's Day.

In other Swan River School District news:

o The school kitchen's heat is not working properly due to a worn out compressor. Estimated costs for replacement are around $4-5,000, which means the school is not required to place it out to bid since it is under $10,000.

“We're going to have to get it pretty quick, we've been blessed with warm temperatures and no snow but it's going to come pretty quick,” Loyda said. “I can't ask for your approval tonight when we don't have the total amount.”