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Are you moving your family out of state? Did you get permission from your old school district to do so? Sounds crazy right? Can you imagine having to prove where you are moving and certify that you are not engaged in child trafficking?
This very situation happened last month to an Ohio family who was moving to Oklahoma. When the family notified the Greater Ohio Virtual School they needed to withdraw their child, they also informed them they will be homeschooling. The school refused to withdraw their child and demanded they provide them with their new address and documents confirming these moving and homeschooling plans. The Ohio school threatened to report them to the CPS if they did not provide this information.
Okay did I miss something here? Since when do we have to get permission from anyone to move? Is this really where privacy and freedom are going...down the drain? Since when do we have to disclose our address against our will? Are you telling me our freedom to move out of state is being taken away? No, this can’t be.
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It was really hard for the family to provide the information the school was requesting. The state of Oklahoma protects parents rights when it comes to alternative means of education and they don’t require homeschooling families to notify their local school district when doing so.
Thank goodness this Ohio family were members of the HSLDA (homeschool legal defense association) because Thomas J. Schmidt, a staff attorney, got to work on investigating this situation. Whenever there is a threat against you to call the CPS, you’ll definitely want to pull out your protection methods to nip it in the bud ASAP!
When Thomas contacted the local school officials in Ohio to ask why they would not withdraw the child and let them move, he received this answer:
The school was following “federal child trafficking laws” and was trying to make sure that the child was safe. The family should have no objections with this requested information.
I didn’t know that providing such information to your old school district was a part of a federal law...did you?
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Could Thomas and all of the legal association have missed this law? He asked the school official to provide the relevant federal code provision but he could not. Although he was unaware of the code he insisted he was citing a federal law mandate.
Further research confirmed that none of the school’s demands related to any federal or state law. While there are human trafficking laws set up to help school officials see possible warning signs of trafficking, none of them include a family moving to another state. How the school treated this family in demanding personal information, threatening to call the CPS and not withdrawing the child was a form of harassment.
Once aware there was not a law to justify their actions, Thomas wrote the school district an email informing them of this. He cautioned them they are violating this family’s constitutional rights to homeschool their child in peace and that they needed to withdraw him. Fortunately they cooperated and finally withdrew the child.
Before a school demands or threatens someone they need to have their facts straight and make sure they are abiding by true laws and not just “feel” that they are.
This is one of the reasons every parent should be aware of their parental rights and keep up with state and federal laws surrounding children. It’s a normal reaction to be afraid of a CPS threat and because of this family’s actions, they were able to be helped and get their son removed from the school.
If you are a homeschool family please take the time to research what organizations are out there to assist you in times of need. These organizations can provide valuable legal information that could help you should you find yourself in a similar situation.
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