Home Schooling in the City of Chesapeake
In the City of Chesapeake, the Office of Student Enrollment & Attendance for Chesapeake Public Schools is responsible for maintaining homeschool documentation and ensuring all homeschool families are in compliance with state codes.
Virginia Code §22.1-254.1
“[e]xcept as otherwise provided in this article, every parent, guardian, or other person in the Commonwealth having control or charge of any child who will have reached the fifth birthday on or before September 30 of any school year and who has not passed the eighteenth birthday shall, during the period of each year the public schools are in session and for the same number of days and hours per day as the public schools, cause such child to attend a public school or a private, denominational, or parochial school or have such child taught by a tutor or teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board of Education and approved by the division superintendent, or provide for home instruction of such child as described in § 22.1-254.1.”
– Virginia Code § 22.1-254.1 Declaration of policy; requirements for home instruction of children.
Notice of Intent
A parent must provide a Notice of Intent to Provide Home Instruction annually to the division superintendent or its designee no later than August 15 of the start of the school year. The parent must also provide a description of the curriculum, limited to a list of subjects to be studied during the coming year, and evidence of having met one of the criteria as required by Va. Code §22.1-254.1 (A).
If the family is new to the area or a decision to homeschool is made after the start of the school year, the parent must provide the required notification and documents within 30 days of arrival or withdrawal from public or private school, outlined in Va. Code §22.1-254.1 (B).
Evidence of Academic Progress
In addition to the above, state law mandates that a parent must provide the division superintendent no later than August 1 at the end of the school year evidence of academic progress as outlined in Va. Code §22.1-254.1 (C).