Filing an affidavit (or what some think of as a “letter of intent to homeschool”) and related papers under Pennsylvania homeschool law doesn’t have to be difficult, intimidating or time-consuming. Read the following post to guide you through the process and help yourself to the one-page printable affidavit found on the “forms” page
The affidavit should be filed before commencement of the home education program in the first year of homeschooling and annually thereafter on or before August 1.
Any parent or legal guardian who intends to homeschool a child who meets the compulsory age requirements in Pennsylvania must notify the superintendent of the school district in which they live of their intention to do so.
What’s an affidavit? This term can be intimidating because most of us have never had to prepare an affidavit and might be under the impression that a lawyer needs to be involved. An affidavit is simply a written statement confirmed by oath or affirmation before a notary. The notary verifies your signature and authenticates the document as legally binding.
I’ll show you how this process actually can make some requirements less cumbersome by being included in this tidy document. You can prepare the affidavit yourself. It just needs to include certain elements which I’ll identify and then we’ll look more carefully at each one.
1. Supervisor’s name with statement that he or she has earned a high school diploma or its equivalent. (This can be a parent or legal guardian).
2. Name and age of each child who will be participating in the home education program.
3. Address and phone number of the home education program site.
4. Statement that the subjects required will be offered in the English language.
5. Statement about health/medical services.
6. Statement that the affidavit is satisfactory evidence that the program complies with the law.
The six elements listed above are required by the PA homeschool law. In addition to these six, I also include the following because I think they’re important:
a. Notation that educational objectives are attached. I include this to protect myself in case the documents are separated accidentally once they leave my possession.
b. Certification regarding absence of criminal convictions for adults living in the home. While the section of the law related to the affidavit does not enumerate this element, clearly it is a minimum qualification in order to homeschool. Although statement #6 ,above, certainly covers this by implicationI think it’s an important enough issue to identify specifically, so I include it.
c. Affidavit must be notarized.*
You can find the affidavit I file every year on the forms page. You can print it and fill it out to file with your school district or use it as a guideline. As you can see, I like to keep the affidavit to one page, although, there is no page limit and you may include more details if you’d like.
* You can get your affidavit notarized at the bank where you do business, at AAA for a fee of $5-6 (if you’re a member), at the office of your local state representative for free (call ahead to make sure a notary will be available) or another local business in your city or town. Title transfer businesses have a notary on site and charge a fee for the service. You can also find one in a local yellow pages directory. It is important to note that you should not sign the document until you are in the presence of the notary since they act as a state-sanctioned, official witness of your signature.
Along with the notarized affidavit, you also need to file a list of objectives, evidence that the child has been immunized in accordance with the provisions of section 1303(a) and that the child has received the health and medical services required for students of the child’s age or grade level or an objection to such services.
Finally, there’s an additional requirement for a child identified as needing special education services. The program must address the specific needs of the exceptional student in the home education program and must be approved by by a teacher with a valid certificate from the Commonwealth to teach special education or a licensed clinical or certified school psychologist. The approval letter should be submitted with the affidavit. Please note that this is the only additional filing requirement for special needs students. The evaluator you choose at the end of the year does not need special education certification.
Written by BethPhillips
This website doesn’t give u any of the options to print the forms, actually it won’t show you any of the forms. Could you email me everything I need.
Thanks
Hi Charity,
If you click on the “homeschool forms” tab, you’ll be directed to enter your email address and a link will be sent to you (after you confirm your email address) to download the forms. Feel free to unsubscribe from the list once you receive, download and print the forms. No hard feelings, promise.
The email subscription is just an easier way to deliver the forms from the website (without getting spam on my part or other technical glitches that I have to manage and maintain.)
I see your posts on Facebook and enjoy reading your advice, so I came over to visit your website.
Just a thought to share…The AAA office in Lancaster has notarized our affidavit for free for all 20+ years we’ve been homeschooling.
Hi Belinda, I think I mentioned that in the book. Thanks for mentioning it here, too. I’m assuming you’re a AAA member.
I’m moving this week from NC to PA. Can you please tell me, is this what I need to do to homeschool him the rest of year in PA? Do I do this form in PA?
Thanks!
Elizabeth,
Yes, if your child has reached compulsory attendance age (8) this is what you need to file. Along with a proposed list of objectives. I’ll shamelessly refer you to the ebook I wrote because it explains soup to nuts what to do and even some of what not to do. There’s a link on the sidebar.
My son is 10 yrs old in 4th grade. Right now he has an IEP. My husband & I would like to begin homeschooling him after he is done with 4th grade. We however would like to revoke his IEP because we disagree with it and do not want it involved with his homeschooling, how and when would we revoke this if we are planning on homeschooling? Right now our next step is going through a due process since we disagree with the IEP but we want to avoid any of it and want to begin homeschooling him beginning in 5th grade. Not sure where to start if we should revoke the IEP first or notify the school of our intentions to home school and revoke the IEP at the same time. I am new to home schooling, also looking for info on where to get study materials etc but will be looking at the rest of your site now.
Hi Angie,
Please know that Title 1 is not my area of expertise. But I think I can give you some general information as your situation relates to homeschooling in Pennsylvania.
Since you are planning to homeschool your son beginning in the 5th grade, you can finish out the school year. I don’t have any idea how long a due process procedure will take to be able to predict whether it will affect your son’s public education experience to finish out the year at school.
It is my understand that IEPs are effective for 1 year only. So this one will expire.
The PA Homeschool law does require the education plan for special needs students (proposed list of objectives) to be approved in writing (simple letter) by a teacher certified to teach special education or other qualified individual as described in the law (clinical psychologist, licenced school psychologist) You choose this person.
That plan may align with an IEP but doesn’t have to-as long as it’s approved by the qualified individual as described above. If you revoke the IEP, the home education plan for your son does not require special approval but your decision to revoke the IEP may have implications related to your son’s future access to services. For a more complete and thorough explanation about that, go to this article. Another great source of information on these issues is Patti Koelsch Stoudt
You may revoke the IEP simultaneously with the filing of the affidavit if it’s relevant. (If it hasn’t already expired and/or you can’t find a person qualified to approve the ed plan). Hopefully, I haven’t confused you.
Finally, homeschool materials. I review my favorites on the resources page. This list isn’t complete. My best advice here is not to go crazy on purchasing curriculum and materials. You can find just about everything you need in the library system or online. If you buy curriculum for convenience, don’t buy it for the future-even if it’s a GREAT deal. Fine to purchase things in the spring for the following school year but not for years down the road.