How to Start Homeschooling in Hawaii

Yes. Homeschooling is legal in Hawaii. HRS 302A-1132(a)(5) excuses a child from compulsory school attendance when a notification of intent to home school has been submitted to the principal of the public school the child would otherwise attend, under Department of Education rules. Those rules are in HAR Chapter 8-12.

The notice is not a request for permission. Under HAR 8-12-13(b), the notice of intent is for record keeping purposes and to protect families from unfounded accusations of educational neglect or truancy. The principal and the district (complex area) superintendent acknowledge it.

HAR 8-12-17 also says reasonable cause for educational neglect cannot be based on a parent's refusal to comply with requests that go beyond the requirements of the chapter.

Under HRS 302A-1132(a), Hawaii's attendance law covers children who will be at least 5 years old on or before July 31 of the school year and who will not be 18 by January 1 of the school year. Graduation from high school and the other statutory exceptions also end the requirement.

Age 5 is earlier than many families expect. If you are moving to Hawaii, check your child's age against that July 31 date. A notice of intent to home school is how you meet the attendance law for a child in this age range.

Here is how to get started with home schooling in Hawaii:

Step 1: Find your local public school. Your notice goes to the principal of the public school your child would otherwise attend, for your child's grade level. HIDOE's website has a Find Your School tool.

Step 2: Prepare your notice of intent. You can use the Department of Education's Form 4140, Exceptions to Compulsory Education, or write a letter. A letter must include your child's name, address, and telephone number; your child's birthdate and grade level; and your signature (HAR 8-12-13(a)). HIDOE says you do not need to provide a birth certificate, proof of residency, or health records.

Step 3: Submit your notice before you begin. Give it to the principal before you start home schooling. Starting mid-year works the same way. HIDOE's page says home schooling begins as soon as you submit the signed form or letter. The school returns your form or letter once the principal and complex area superintendent have signed it, and sends you a copy of HAR Chapter 8-12. Keep that copy.

Step 4: Set up your curriculum record. HAR 8-12-15 asks you to keep a record of your planned curriculum at home. It should include the start and end dates of your program, a record of weekly instruction hours, the subject areas covered, the method you use to determine mastery, and a list of textbooks and materials in standard bibliographic format.

Step 5: Start teaching. Pick your curriculum. Set your schedule. Begin.

Step 6: Submit your annual progress report. Each year, send the principal a report of your child's progress using one of the four methods in HAR 8-12-18(b). Details are below.

You file two kinds of things with the principal of your local public school.

Notice of intent. Use Form 4140 or a letter that includes:

• Your child's name, address, and telephone number
• Your child's birthdate and grade level
• Your signature

Under HAR 8-12-13(c), once your child's annual progress report has been submitted, you do not need to resubmit the notice each year. The exception is when your child would move to a different local public school, for example from sixth grade into an intermediate school. Then you notify the principal of the new school.

Annual progress report. Each year, submit a report of your child's progress to the principal (HAR 8-12-18(b)). The rule sets no specific due date.

Hawaii does not require notarization of your notice or a background check.

Your curriculum record stays at home. The principal may ask to see it only if progress is not adequate (HAR 8-12-18(d)).

If you stop home schooling, notify the principal (HAR 8-12-16).

Hawaii has two related requirements.

Annual progress report. Under HAR 8-12-18(b), you submit an annual report to the principal using one of these methods:

• Test score at grade level. A score on a nationally normed standardized achievement test showing grade-level achievement appropriate to your child's age.
• Test score showing growth. Progress on a nationally normed standardized achievement test equal to one grade level per calendar year, even if overall achievement is below grade level.
• Certified teacher evaluation. A written evaluation by a person certified to teach in Hawaii that your child shows appropriate grade-level achievement or significant annual advancement in line with their abilities.
• Parent evaluation. Your own written evaluation, with a description of your child's progress in each subject in the curriculum, representative samples of your child's work, and representative tests and assignments, including grades if you give them.

Statewide testing grades. Under HAR 8-12-18(a), test scores are required in grades 3, 5, 8, and 10. Your child may take part in the Statewide Testing Program at the local public school; ask the principal for the details. You may instead arrange comparable private testing at your own expense, or ask the principal to approve another means of evaluation. In those grades, you may use the school's test results as your annual progress report for that year.

The principal reviews your child's progress. If progress is not adequate, the principal meets with you to discuss it and help set up a plan for improvement, and may ask to see your curriculum record. When standardized test scores are used, adequate progress means scores in the upper two thirds (HAR 8-12-18(d)). Unless progress is inadequate for two consecutive semesters, based on a norm-referenced test or a Hawaii-certified teacher's evaluation, the principal may not recommend enrolling your child in school or taking legal action for educational neglect, and no such recommendation may be made before third grade.

This guide covers home schooling under HRS 302A-1132(a)(5) and HAR Chapter 8-12.

The other route is enrolling your child in a licensed or accredited private school (HRS 302A-1132(d)). State law puts no filing, testing, or recordkeeping duty on the family for that route; licensing and accreditation are the school's obligations.

HAR 8-12-8(b) says that enrollment in a private school's home study program is not treated as attendance at a private school. A child taught at home through such a program is home schooled under this guide, so you file a notice of intent with your local public school principal.

A few things to know about homeschooling in Hawaii:

Send your notice to the right school. It goes to the principal of the public school your child would otherwise attend for their grade level, not to HIDOE headquarters. If you move, or your child reaches a grade served by a different school, notify the new school's principal.

Special education services. Under HAR 8-12-14, statutorily mandated educational and related services are made available at the home public school site to home-schooled children who have been evaluated and certified as needing them and who request them.

Athletics and activities. Under HAR 8-12-13(d), the parent who files a notice to home school is responsible for the child's total educational program, including athletics and other co-curricular activities.

College entrance exams. A home-schooled child may take any college entrance examination made available to all other students (HAR 8-12-22).

High school diploma options. No course credits are granted for time spent home schooled (HAR 8-12-20). Under HAR 8-12-21, a home-schooled student can earn a public high school diploma by attending high school for at least three full years and meeting graduation requirements, or a diploma from the community school for adults by being at least 16, being home schooled for at least one semester under Hawaii's procedures, and achieving a satisfactory GED score.

Ending home schooling. If you stop, notify the principal. Your child must be enrolled in a public or licensed private school unless a new alternative program is presented within five school days (HAR 8-12-16).