Rhode Island Homeschool Requirements Checklist
Everything you need to do to homeschool legally in Rhode Island, based on R.I.G.L. Section 16-19-2. Rhode Island is classified as High regulation.
This is the general checklist for School Committee Approval. Our free wizard customizes this for your family, including grade, pathway, enrollment status, and IEP.
Your compliance checklist
Do first
Request approval
Submit your education plan to school committee of the city or town where the child resides and wait for approval before beginning instruction. Deadline: Set by the local school committee. Conditions: Use the resident municipality’s approval process; the statute provides an appeal from school-committee action. State law sets no filing date. At-home instruction counts only once the school committee of your town approves it, so the committee sets when it needs your request. State law does not say how often approval must be renewed; that is part of the school committee's approval.
Deadline: Set by the local school committee
More details
Conditions: State law sets no filing date. At-home instruction counts only once the school committee of your town approves it, so the committee sets when it needs your request..
Ongoing
Required subjects
reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, United States and Rhode Island history, principles of American government, English
Meet instructional time requirements
Minimum: 180 days/year.
Testing: what applies to you
The school committee approves at-home instruction when it meets § 16-19-2 (equal period of attendance, attendance registers, required subjects taught in English); testing is not one of the statutory conditions.
Keep basic records
You must maintain: attendance records. Records may be reviewed by the district.
Filing requirements
- What to file
- approval required
- Send to
- school committee of the city or town where the child resides
- Deadline
- Set by the local school committee
- State law sets no filing date. At-home instruction counts only once the school committee of your town approves it, so the committee sets when it needs your request.
- How often
- One-time
R.I.G.L. 16-19-1(a); R.I.G.L. 16-19-2
Ongoing requirements
Required subjects
- ✓reading
- ✓writing
- ✓arithmetic
- ✓geography
- ✓United States and Rhode Island history
- ✓principles of American government
- ✓English
R.I.G.L. 16-19-2(3)
Instructional time
- Days per year:
- 180
R.I.G.L. 16-19-2(1); R.I.G.L. 16-2-2(a)(1)
Recordkeeping
- ✓Attendance records
Records may be reviewed by the district.
R.I.G.L. 16-19-2(2)
Get your personalized checklist
This is the general checklist for the most common pathway. The wizard customizes it for your family's specific situation, including grade, pathway, and IEP status.
Get your Rhode Island checklistRequirements sourced from R.I.G.L. Section 16-19-2. Last reviewed October 2026