11/06/02 *New* Homeschooling Policy in Effect
Dr. Joseph Tafoya has signed a new policy on homeschooling that supersedes all previous memos issued by DoDEA. DoDEA sent NHEN the final copy of this policy along with an FAQ that helps to interpret various areas.
Read the PDF from the DoDEA website.
Read the text of the new policy here at the website (without downloading the pdf)
Read the text of the FAQ pertaining to this new policy (without downloading the pdf)
10/18/02 Successful Meeting with DoDEA
Sue Patterson, NHEN Military Coordinator, and Nicky Hardenbergh, NHEN Board Member, met with Dr. Joseph Tafoya, Director, Colonel Michael Lynch, Acting Chief of Staff; and Dr. Elizabeth Middlemiss, Principal Deputy Director of DoDEA and Associate Director for Education, at their offices in Arlington, Virginia. Read about the meeting.
12/28/01 National Defense Authorization Act
Congress has approved S 1438 (HR2586), the National Defense Authorization Act. Among other things, this bill alters section 1407 of the Defense Dependents' Education Act of 1978 to permit homeschool students to use or receive auxiliary services without being required to either enroll register for a minimum number of courses. Auxiliary services are defined as: individual courses, use of academic resources, access to the library of the school , after hours use of school facilities, and participation in music, sports, and other extracurricular and interscholastic activities. View the wording.
Statement from the President
In President George Bush's statement regarding the Defense Authorization Act he says:
"The legislation also addresses important needs of military families, such as improved job training and education opportunities for military spouses and access for home-schooled children of military families to facilities and programs of Department of Defense dependent schools." Read President Bush's 12/28/01 Press Release
11/19/01 Update from DoDEA
In a telephone call with DoDEA, NHEN learned that the Dependents Education Council Meeting was cancelled due to the September 11th tragedy. The meeting has been rescheduled to February 2002. The Regulation of Homeschoolers topic is still tabled and no vote is expected at this meeting.
In Heidelberg, homeschoolers reported that they, along with their public and privately schooled peers, will be *required* in the near future to report their educational choice to the commander. DoDEA is not pushing for this requirement and says that the Tolleson memo is still in effect.
Anyone with more information about this situation, or any other situation of interest to homeschooling families in the military, is requested to contact Military@NHEN.org
07/11/01 Home School Task Force DoDEA Meeting Tabled
Joseph Tafoya, Director of DoDEA, sent a letter to NHEN (see the text or see the scanned letter) informing us that the Dependents' Education Council (DEC) decided to table the plans to hold a Task Force Meeting on homeschooling in the fall. If you are a military homeschooler overseas, and your School Liaison Officer is continuing with Focus Group meetings and plans for a Task Force Meeting, please contact Military@nhen.org as the DoDEA is interested in helping us get accurate information out as quickly as possible.
05/2001 Military convenes homeschool focus groups in Europe
At Army installations throughout Germany, school liaison officers have been holding "home school focus group meetings" and distributing questionnaires applicable to homeschoolers in Europe. View survey questions
The National Home Education Network responded to this survey with a letter and an accompanying FAQ on Home Education Regulation. If you plan to attend any focus groups and would like supporting information, please make a copy to share at the meeting.
To participate in an online discussion about this issue, subscribe and post on the NHEN-Legislative email list or the Military folder in the NHEN forum.
