Homeschooling

Parents must enroll their children in public schools, parochial schools, private nonsectarian schools or homeschools. If you decide to homeschool your child, indicate your intent in writing to the homeschool office either by email or by mail and attach the necessary forms. If needed, the department will provide guidance on the required forms. After initial registration, you will receive annual homeschool registration information, unless you notify this office that your children are enrolled elsewhere.

There are associations and accrediting agencies that provide supervision, information, support and accreditation to home schools available on the Minnesota Department of Education website. This is a valuable resource parents will want to review to understand the details of home schooling.

Home schools must comply with Minnesota’s Compulsory Instruction Law by providing instruction in the following subject areas:

1. Basic communication skills, including reading and writing, literature and fine arts;
2. Mathematics and science;
3. Social studies including history, geography, economics, government, and citizenship; and
4. Health and physical education

Parents purchase their own materials and then request reimbursement up to the amount set by the Minnesota Department of Education. A number of associations provide information on textbooks and you are encouraged to contact them for information. 

In order to be reimbursed, the Student Report for Aids to Nonpublic Students form, must be submitted no later than October 1. Authorized rate of entitlement for this school year can be found on the Nonpublic Pupil Aid Rate Memo for FY2024. Save your receipts from your teaching material expenditures dated between July 1 and June 30. Items that are eligible include; textbooks, individualized instructional materials and standardized tests. When you have accumulated at least the year’s allocation amount per student, submit only eligible receipts to the Homeschool Department by June 30. A check will then be issued to you. 

Students who are homeschooled may request to enroll for some classes in the public school for their attendance area. Local policy determines which classes are eligible, capacity issues and other factors affecting eligibility to enroll. Parents are responsible for contacting the principal of the school at which classes may be offered and are responsible for transportation to and from the school. You are urged to follow this process precisely as not every staff person in the district is familiar with homeschooling or the options and limitations for enrollment.

Only homeschooled students or students in other very small nonpublic schools may participate under state law. Any expanded participation would need mutual agreement of the district, nonpublic school and, depending on the student’s grade level, the Minnesota High School League. Nonpublic school students in schools of five or fewer students may participate in the resident school district’s extracurricular activities that meet the characteristics of extracurricular activities detailed in law. The law does not allow participation in extracurricular activities in another public school district where the student was previously enrolled or at a charter school.

If a nonpublic school student in grades 9-12 is interested in participating in extracurricular activities in another school district or charter school, they may join the Minnesota High School League and enter into an agreement with that district or school. High School League policies pertaining to this arrangement are Bylaws 104 and 403.

Minnesota High School League, 2100 Freeway Boulevard, Brooklyn Center, Minnesota 55430-1735; phone (763) 560-2262, fax (763) 569-0499.

No. Home school students are not able to receive a Burnsville High School diploma. Only full-time students of Burnsville High School or the Burnsville Area Learning Center, who fulfill graduation requirements set by the school board and meet state standards, are eligible for a diploma from Burnsville High School. Homeschools provide their own diplomas and transcripts. We do not verify credits or provide proof of coursework if not enrolled in ISD 191.

The course content and rigor of homeschool courses will be compared with ISD 191 courses related to state graduation standards for the purpose of awarding credit towards graduation. Pertinent materials from the homeschool course, such as textbooks, the course syllabus, an outline of the course, and samples of student work must be submitted to the counseling department of the ISD 191 school that offers corresponding coursework. Coursework in grades 9-12 should be submitted to Burnsville High School/Burnsville Area Learning Center.