Home School Legal Defense Association was contacted by the family’s mother, Anna Kerr, who learned from a school email her son was required to pay double the fee to participate. The policy had been approved by the school board, she was told.
HSLDA attorney Darren Jones, who aided the family, tells AFN the fee applied to any student who was not enrolled at a public school.
“So it wasn't exactly discriminatory against just homeschoolers,” he clarifies. “It was just everyone who wasn't a public school student."
HSLDA did not name the public school district in Minnesota in its interview with AFN.
After he reviewed Minnesota’s laws, Jones informed the school district the state law not only allows homeschooled students to participate but plainly states they can do so “on the same basis as public school students.”
After a lengthy delay, the HSLDA attorney was informed the school board has reversed the policy.
Anna, the mother, was informed by the school district it was attempting to recoup extra funds because homeschooling students aren’t counted when the state calculates district funding.
“It wasn’t about the money,” the mother said. “It was about the district targeting homeschoolers for their budgetary problems.”
HSLDA is running into the extra-fee issue in other states, too, so the incident in Minnesota has helped Jones and other attorneys learn how to review state laws to help families facing the same dilemma.
