PSA, Sequim School District:
WHO has been apprised that Sequim SD is contacting parents of Running Start students and demanding a Declaration of Intent “so we know if *he will still be homeschooled so *he will still be active and we don’t have to drop h** at the end of the school year.”
This is contrary to the law.
If your kidlet is in RS, you should have a DofI on file for this year, and, if *he is continuing next year, you will file again on 15 September 2017.
I suspect that the school is trying to project a budget for school year 2017-18, and since they get 7% off the top as the RS funds flow from the state to the school to the college, they’re trying to figure out how many homeschooling juniors will continue on in RS as seniors.
It’s fine to tell them that you plan to continue in RS next fall (for that matter, they should already know this, as you’ve likely already got the RSEVF (Running Start Eligibility Verification Form) and are already registered in classes at your college.
You do not “owe” the school a DofI for next year (2017-18) until 15 September 2017.
~Jen Garrison Stuber, WHO Board Advocacy Chair
UPDATE:
“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.”
I see no reason to submit next year’s DofI while we’re still in this school year. I mean, if they’re looking for the data early, why not use the RSEVF? That’s done this year for next, and they already know that you’ve been homeschooling — there’s no real reason that you’d suddenly want to enroll as a full time high school student after attending a year of RS and heading into your second year of it.
I talked to Sequim HS’s Counseling Department. They said they’re sending out DofIs to all their homeschooling students, not just the RS ones at this time of year. They say it’s “not mandatory” (duh) that you file now for next year, but they want to “get a jump start” on the paperwork for next year, and that they drop everyone who hasn’t filed for next year at the end of this school year. (I have no idea what “dropped” means — it’s not like homeschoolers, outside of those who are part time, or are enrolled solely for the purposes of RS are “enrolled” anyway. That’s not what a DofI does.
Moreover, the data collection from the DofI isn’t due from the SD to the OSPI until December. Sequim collected 83 DofIs with 146 students on them this year.
I’m kind of at a loss.
~Jen