Homeschooling in Alabama? Here’s your plan.

Alabama's homeschool landscape is built around church schools. Under Ala. Code 16-28-1, a church school is a school offering instruction in grades K-12 (including through home programs) that is operated as a ministry of a local church, group of churches, denomination, or association of churches and receives no state or federal funding. You choose your own curriculum, set your own schedule, and teach what you believe is best for your child.

Ala. Code 16-28-7 sets out the one filing step. You file your child's enrollment and attendance with the local public school superintendent on a form the superintendent provides. The church school administrator countersigns it, and you return it to the superintendent. The statute does not set a due date or say whether the form is filed once or every year, so ask your superintendent's office when they need it. If your child later stops attending the church school, the church school notifies the superintendent, based on consent you give when you enroll.

Church schools differ in what they offer and what they require of families. Ask about their policies on subjects, attendance records, and testing before you join.

Alabama law recognizes three ways to homeschool. The church school pathway (Ala. Code 16-28-1, 16-28-7) has the fewest state requirements: one form filed with the local superintendent, and no state rule on subjects, hours, or testing. The private tutor pathway (Ala. Code 16-28-5) requires a tutor who holds a certificate issued by the State Superintendent of Education, teaching the branches of study required in the public schools for at least 3 hours a day, 140 days a year, between 8:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. The private school pathway (Ala. Code 16-28-7) requires the principal teacher to report enrolled children to the county or city superintendent at the end of the fifth day after public schools open, then report unexcused absences at least weekly.

Enroll with a church school first. Before your child stops attending public school, finish enrolling with a church school and file the superintendent's enrollment form. Alabama law (Ala. Code 16-28-12) makes it a misdemeanor for a parent to fail to have a school-age child enrolled in school, so you want enrollment in place first.

No state testing rule. Alabama law sets no testing rule for church school students. Your church school may set its own testing policy as a condition of enrollment, so ask before you join.

Enroll first, then withdraw. A withdrawal letter is not required by state law. What matters is that your child is enrolled in a church school, with a private tutor, or in a private school before your child stops attending public school, because Ala. Code 16-28-12 makes it a misdemeanor not to have a school-age child enrolled.

Six-year-olds can wait a year. Under Ala. Code 16-28-3, a parent of a six-year-old may opt out of enrolling the child until age seven by notifying the local board of education in writing.

CHOOSE Act ESA. Alabama's CHOOSE Act (2024) created an Education Savings Account program. Amounts and eligibility rules are set by the program, so check its official site for current details.

IEP services and Child Find. When you withdraw your child from public school, IEP services from the district generally stop. Under federal law (IDEA), your district must still locate and evaluate children who may have a disability, so you can ask the district for an evaluation.

Immunization records. Alabama's school immunization law (Ala. Code 16-30-4) requires a certificate of immunization, commonly called the Blue Card, at entrance to a public or private school. Ala. Code 16-30-3 provides exceptions for a written religious objection and for a medical exemption certified by a competent medical authority. Ask your church school what records it keeps.