State Laws: Ohio


OHIO HOME EDUCATION LAW
by Katie Marino

Read the actual statute HERE.
All regulations are state-wide. There are no local or regional laws.
This law went into effect on October 3, 2023, and replaces the prior law.
To read a detailed explanation of the old law, click here.

PARENT REQUIREMENTS
None

PAPERWORK REQUIREMENTS
A parent notifies the superintendent of the school district in which s/he resides of his/her intent to home educate; this notice of intent (NOI) exempts that parent’s child(ren) from attendance within the district for that school year. An NOI must be submitted for a continuing homeschool family by August 30 each year, and must include the following information:
  1. Parent's name and address. Only one parent must be listed, but both may be included if applicable;
  2. First and last names of each child to be homeschooled;
  3. Assurance that home education will include instruction in English language arts, math, science, history, government, and social studies;
  4. Parent's signature and the current date.

I recommend that the NOI be mailed to the superintendent via certified mail, return receipt requested. Alternately, one may hand-deliver it and ask for a time/date-stamped receipt. Both serve as proof that the parent has fulfilled the law and when s/he did so. The date is important because the superintendent has 14 calendar days in which to acknowledge, in writing, receipt of the notification. Note that all communication between parent and superintendent should take place through the mail, since there is no way to prove that an email was received. But once an NOI is in the mail or handed in, a family is good to go; the children are exempt, and the parent is legally home-educating.

Ohio law does allow a parent to withdraw a child from school at any time in the year, and the NOI serves as the legal means of doing so. In these cases, the NOI should be dropped off or mailed within five calendar days after commencing home education, withdrawing from a public or non-public school, or moving into a new school district. There are no other statutory requirements for withdrawal.

Note that a superintendent does not give permission for home education, nor can s/he disallow it. By law, s/he must simply acknowledge a child’s exemption from attendance for that school year. Be aware as well that district personnel may ask parents to use forms from the district. However, that is not obligatory, and I highly recommend declining since school systems regularly overstep the law (i.e., asking for more information than is legally mandated) on their forms. Notification should be complete but minimal, obeying the law, but providing nothing more.


AGE REQUIREMENTS
The compulsory school attendance age begins when a child is 6 years of age by the time school begins in the public-school district of residence. It ends at 18 or when a parent deems that a child has completed the course of study s/he has laid out. Thus, a parent may graduate his/her child before 18.

OVERSIGHT REQUIREMENTS
None

SUBJECT REQUIREMENTS
As stated above, an NOI provides assurance that English language arts, science, math, history, government and social studies will be covered during the course of a child's education. It's important to note that the law doesn't say how the subjects should be presented, and there is no legal requirement to use any specific type of materials, ever. A parent may instruct multiple children from the same curriculum, and integrate or separate the subjects as s/he sees fit. Parents do not have to instruct all of the subjects on every day of the week or even every year.

TIME REQUIREMENTS
None

The law uses the word “instruct” rather than “teach” for a reason. Teaching is usually understood to take place during a set aside time period (as in a school day), but instruction is usually understood to be something that can happen anywhere, any time, and at all times.


GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
None

A parent decides when a child has completed his/er education, and issues a diploma, even – by law – if this occurs before the child is 18, because a parent-issued diploma is, in fact and in law, from a “governing authority.” That being said, do consider what plans a child may have after graduation, and customize his/her education accordingly. For example, if a child is college-bound, check on admissions requirements for colleges of interest. The same is true, of course, for trade schools, community colleges, the military etc.

Ohio
law recognizes parent-issued diplomas and transcripts as legal and acceptable in every way, no different from those issued by public or private schools. And, contrary to popular opinion, a GED is not needed.

It is not necessary to notify a public-school superintendent about a child’s graduation.


ASSESSEMENT REQUIREMENTS
None

Though testing is an option for parents who want to gauge a child’s academic level compared to other children, it is never required, either through a school or private providers. If you do choose testing, I strongly recommend not testing through a school district, so as not to give the district unnecessary private information about a child.

VACCINATION REQUIREMENTS
None

OTHER

Public school extracurricular participation:
Participation in extracurriculars is allowed, as described here. Sports are included in this as well as any non-graded extracurriculars. Other than sports, extracurricular activities can vary from district to district, and a parent should contact the school for details. If an activity is non-graded, schools will usually allow homeschooled children to participate.

There is some confusion and arbitrariness about what is required for grades with sports. The law seems to indicate that an NOI should serve in place of grades, and home educated athletes should not have to submit them. However, some athletic directors require letter grades, and the Ohio Athletic Association can suspend a team's season if they find an athlete has not submitted grades. Most parents simply submit a pass/fail “report card” and assure that the athlete has at least a 2.0 GPA in at least five classes and is failing no more than one of them.

"08" Schools:
Home-educating for sincerely held religious belief governed under a different law HERE – is an alternate way to home-educate in Ohio. Passed in 1983, this form of home education is referred to as “08,” and the rules and procedures are different than in the statute which is the focus of this article. 08 schools are private, non-chartered, non-tax supported schools.

Support:
Finding support and accurate information is important. The primary source of information is, of course, the law itself. It's not very difficult to understand, and I highly recommend becoming very familiar with it. Reliable homeschool associations can also be helpful. Ohio Homeschooling Parents, the largest home education group in Ohio, has a Facebook group and a website that provide clarification on the law, up-to-date changes with the law, and many other things. Christian Homeschoolers of Ohio (CHEO) is another fairly large group, and welcomes Christians and other-than-Christians alike. Its website is full of helpful information, as well as up-to-date legislative proposals and changes; it also has a Facebook page. That said, it is wise to steer clear of both the Ohio Department of Education's website and local school boards for any information. Both are known to be inaccurate, and are, therefore, not recommended as reliable resources.

Virtual Schools:
There are virtual schools in Ohio; some are public schools and someare not. It is important to distinguish between the two. Even if a child is at home, if s/he is enrolled in a virtual public school, s/he is legally defined as a public-school student, not a homeschooled student, and is subject to the laws and regulations that govern public school. Ohio does not have umbrella schools.

Flexibility and Customization:
Each homeschooling parent decides at what “level” a child is studying for each subject, and educates accordingly. Ohio law does not require a “grade level” on the NOI, instead allowing a child to work and progress at his/her own pace in each area of study.

CONCLUSION
Homeschooling has been legal in Ohio since 1989 (08 schools since 1983), and some parents were jailed in the struggle to win that right. Current Ohio home education law has been designed to allow for parental freedom and maximum autonomy. Whether we like it or not, that law is in place, and it is imperative to fulfill it – to the letter but no more – lest we lose our rights to raise and educate our own children. Home education is much more than an educational choice; it's a lifestyle choice as well. Parents learn and grow alongside their children, every year being different with new challenges and opportunities!

*****

Katie has been home-educating in Ohio since 2000. She has seven children, and has always home-educated them. She likes to help new home educators, or those thinking about it, with encouragement and accurate information. She moderates the Northeast Ohio Happy Homeschoolers group on Facebook, so you might bump into her there. Once in a while, she blogs on random topics, such as recipes, mothering, marriage, and home education. She loves God, her family, and her country.