Email of the Day:
I filed my Declaration of Intent using a private electronic filing service. I have not received a confirmation that the Superintendent has received my DofI. Am I required to do anything further? Or will my copy of my submission be acceptable if I’m called upon to prove I’m in compliance?
Answer:
We recommend against using such services.
The law says this about the Declaration of Intent:
(1) Each parent whose child is receiving home-based instruction under RCW 28A.225.010(4) shall have the duty to:
(a) File annually a signed declaration of intent that he or she is planning to cause his or her child to receive home-based instruction. The statement shall include the name and age of the child, shall specify whether a certificated person will be supervising the instruction, and shall be written in a format prescribed by the superintendent of public instruction. Each parent shall file the statement by September 15th of the school year or within two weeks of the beginning of any public school quarter, trimester, or semester with the superintendent of the public school district within which the parent resides or the district that accepts the transfer, and the student shall be deemed a transfer student of the nonresident district. Parents may apply for transfer under RCW 28A.225.220;
The law places the burden on you to file with your local superintendent. We keep a Declaration of Intent that is in compliance with the law here: http://washhomeschool.org/homeschooling/Declaration.pdf
The Declaration of Intent does two things: it relieves the school of their burden to provide your child with an education and it provides you with protection from a charge of truancy. It is because of this latter bit that I recommend you send a Declaration of Intent to your local school district today. You don’t need to do a mea culpa or even an explanation, but I would get it in ASAP to make sure it’s on file.
It’s one piece of paper that’s submitted once a year; it’s not an onerous burden to submit it yourself. (And it costs .49 a year if you send it, .98 a year if you include an SASE, and $3.78 if you both include an SASE *and* send it Return Receipt Requested ($2.80)). This is STILL less than the $6 the service wants to file it on your behalf (with no guarantee that they fulfilled this requirement in the law on your behalf).
Warmly,
~Jen GS