Louisiana homeschool requirements

Homeschooling is legal in Louisiana. The captured sources describe two main ways to do it: a BESE-approved home study program or a nonpublic school not seeking state approval.

Medium: Louisiana has two different homeschool-style pathways with different rules. The BESE-approved home study option requires an application, annual renewal, a sustained curriculum of quality equal to public schools, and proof of progress at renewal. The nonpublic school not seeking state approval option appears lighter, but it still requires certain notices, annual attendance reporting, and a 180-day school year.

Unclear from the captured sources. Final QA should confirm Louisiana's current compulsory attendance ages from a readable official source.

Yes. The required paperwork depends on which Louisiana option you choose. Notify: For the home study option, apply to the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education through the Louisiana Department of Education. For the nonpublic school option, notify the public school your child attended within 10 days if applicable and report attendance annually to the Louisiana Department of Education.. Deadline: For home study, apply within 15 days after beginning and renew annually by October 1 or 12 months after initial approval, whichever is later. For the nonpublic school option, notify the prior public school within 10 days of enrollment if applicable and file the annual attendance report around the 30th day of the school term, with the captured HSLDA resource saying no later than 30 days after the school year starts.

For the home study option, a sustained curriculum of quality at least equal to public schools, Subjects taught at the same grade level used in public schools, Declaration of Independence in elementary school for the home study option, The Federalist Papers in high school for the home study option

Operate for 180 days each year under either pathway described in the captured sources.

No routine statewide testing appears to be required just to homeschool. For the home study option, renewal requires evidence of progress, and one allowed way to show that is through LEAP, CAT, or another approved standardized test score, but the DOE page also says home study students are not required to take state assessments. Frequency: No routine statewide homeschool testing schedule is clearly stated. For the home study option, progress evidence is part of the annual renewal process.

For home study renewals, keep enough records to show that you offered a sustained curriculum of quality. The captured source says the renewal packet can include subject outlines, a list of books and materials, work samples, standardized test results, third-party statements, and other evidence of program quality. For the nonpublic school option, keep copies of withdrawal notices when relevant and the annual attendance report.

The captured sources do not state a teacher license requirement for parents. The DOE page says parents in a BESE-approved home study program have complete control and responsibility for educating their child.

Moderate overall. Parents choose the curriculum, and the DOE says it does not maintain a list of approved programs, but the home study option must offer a sustained curriculum of quality equal to public schools and at the same grade level.