To the Editor:

In the article “‘A monumental task’: GCSD explains plans for reopening” by Melissa Hale-Spencer, the following quote from Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Demian Singleton is, I believe, to be both misleading and factually incorrect: “In home-schooling, which is ‘not anything new,’ Singleton said, parents provide instruction at home. They have to go through an extensive process to get approval to do this, conforming to requirements from the State Education Department.” I take exception to both the words “approval” and “extensive.”

According to the NYSED Part 100.10 Regulations, parents do not have to go through any (ominous-sounding) extensive approval process. Parents are required to:

— 1. Notify the school by July 1 of each year their intent to provide at home instruction for their child(ren);

— 2. Submit to the school individualized home instruction plans (IHIPs) for each child, detailing the course of studies for a minimum of 180 days of instruction;

— 3. Submit progress reports for each child to the school on a quarterly basis; and

— 4. Provide an annual assessment of the progress of each child using any one of a number of standardized testing vehicles.

What Singleton may have been referring to is the potential for iterations of the IHIP between the parent and the school review of IHIPs, to ensure compliance with minimum New York State Education standards.

It was our experience (we homeschooled two of our children for a number of years through the Guilderland school district) that the school was very helpful in the process, and that if one used a formal curriculum and reviewed the state requirements for required subjects, there were no additional iterations between submission of an IHIP and acceptance of that IHIP by the school.

In addition, we found there to be a robust community of home-schooling families in this area who were more than willing to assist a “first-timer” with the process.

Please refer to the official compilation of codes, rules, and regulations of the State of New York, Title 8, Education Department, Chapter II Regulations of the Commissioner, Subchapter E Elementary and Secondary education, Part 100.10 home instruction. 8 CRR-NY 100.10 as a detailed reference to the NYSED’s requirements for home education.

Bob Semp

Altamont