*Susannah withdrew her 7th grade son, *Noah, from a Greene County school in September of 2024.
To notify the school of her son’s withdrawal, Susannah went into the school to speak with the staff directly. The staff required her to sign their homegrown withdrawal form. Knowing she wasn’t required to do this by law, she chose to sign it to maintain a good relationship with the school as Noah was on a sports team and she wished to continue his participation. The form asked for the student’s curriculum and new school. Susannah let the school know that she wasn’t required to inform them of the curriculum and that Noah was now homeschooled. She did not provide further information.
A week later, Susannah continued to get missing assignment and absence notifications from the school. Knowing the laws regarding truancy had changed recently, she reached out to the principal, new to the administrator role, to inquire into why Noah was continuing to be marked as absent. The principal again reiterated that Susannah was required to provide them with her chosen curriculum and the name of the school Noah was attending. Again, Susannah informed the school they were not privy to that information and provided the administrator with documentation from IDOE confirming that. Ignoring the pertinent information, the principal wrote to Susannah that IDOE required an exit interview and that part of that interview was knowing what curriculum and/or school Noah would be attending.
To be clear, exit interviews are ONLY required of students who are dropping out of high school. Exit interviews are not required, nor are they appropriate, of those withdrawing to homeschool.
Twenty days after Noah’s withdrawal, the principal continued to email Susannah regarding the name and curriculum of Noah’s new “online school.” Frustrated that she’d provided the appropriate information and had gone above and beyond what was required of her by law, Susannah reached out to the IAHE for assistance.
An IAHE team member immediately reached out to the school principal, superintendent, IDOE, and the state attendance officer. Seeing this as an educational opportunity for both a new superintendent and a new principal, our IAHE team member seized the opportunity to educate the staff on what was required of Susannah by law, that that had been satisfied, and that there was nothing further Susannah was required to do or provide to the school.
School staff received the communication the next morning and promptly communicated that Noah had been withdrawn from the school. A week later, Susannah reached out to IAHE…she was still receiving notifications from the school!
IAHE again reached out to the superintendent, IDOE, and the state attendance officer. Both Susannah and the IAHE received confirmation from both the school and the state that Noah had been successfully withdrawn.
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*Name has been changed.