There are three documents below:

1) Ministry of Education Meetings Update is an excerpt from the December 1999 issue of Home Rules in which Donna Sheehan provided an update on the meetings with Ministry officials and other groups.

2) A copy of the New Draft Document that was prepared by OFTP after several meetings.

3) A a letter from Janet Ecker, who was the Minister of Education at the time, in response to a letter sent to her from OFTP

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Ministry of Education Meetings Update
December 1999 issue of Home Rules
by Donna Sheehan

Talks with the Ministry of Education resumed on October 4th in Hamilton. In attendance were Jim Sebastian, Provincial School Attendance Counselor (PSAC), Pierce Thomas, president of the Ontario Association of Counseling and Attendance Services (OACAS), Glen Purcell, Scarborough attendance counselor, Des Brennan, attendance counselor from the Hamilton-Wentworth school board, Jack Barbibeau, Director from Home Schooling Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), Jake Zwart, Secretary of the Ontario Christian Home Educators' Connection (OCHEC), Albert Lubberts, president of OFTP and me.

At this point in our discussions, we are waiting for Jim Sebastian to receive some direction from the Minister of Education regarding the draft document. This document was produced by the above mentioned people, during many meetings over the last year, who all have a vested interest in this issue. A portion of the draft document is included with this issue of Home Rules. (Note: the notification letter referred to in this document IS OPTIONAL.) Please understand that no one is expecting anyone to rush out and notify their local school board of their decision to home school their children. This is primarily a document which provides a procedure for parents who are: a) withdrawing their children from the public school system; b) for parents who are interested in developing a relationship with their local school board in order to have access to school resources; and c) for procedures to follow when an inquiry is called.

We need to appreciate that the discussions with ministry officials will only take us so far in our attempts to encourage consistency in the relationship between school board officials and home schooling families. Since it appears that discussions with the Ministry have reached a standstill, the executive committee decided, at a recent meeting on November 21st, to start a very important initiative. A package of information is being put together which will serve to educate the larger community about home schooling. The package will be targeted to attendance counselors at local school boards, trustees and MPPs initially……………..

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DRAFT ~~ DRAFT ~~ DRAFT ~~ DRAFT ~~ DRAFT

~ HOME SCHOOLING: SUCCESSFUL PRACTICES ~

INTRODUCTION
School boards have generally used the guideline entitled "Determining Satisfactory Instruction", issued by the ministry in 1981, to develop policies with respect to determining satisfactory instruction for those children whose parents have notified the board of their intention to home school their children. Recent changes such as the increase in home schooling, the formation of provincial home schooling support groups, and the reorganization of school boards have led to an opportunity to review home schooling practices in Ontario.

Key stakeholder groups, along with the Ministry of Education and Training, are reviewing the criteria for determining satisfactory instruction. The purpose of the review is to promote and encourage the use of successful practices with a view to ensuring greater consistency of practice in the province.

The groups involved included the Ontario Association for Counselling and Attendance Services (OACAS), the Ontario Federation of Teaching Parents (OFTP), the Ontario Christian Home Educators' Connection (OCHEC), the Home Schooling Legal Defence Association (HSLDA) and school boards in consultation with the Catholic Home Schoolers' Association.

BACKGROUND
This draft document resulted from a series of consultations designed to explore possible best practices for Boards in relation to home-based education under Ontario's current laws. Taking part in these discussions were: Jim Sebastian, Provincial School Attendance Counsellor (PSAC); Pierce Thomas, president of the Ontario Association of Counselling and Attendance Services (OACAS); Glen Purcell, Scarborough attendance counsellor; Des Brennan, attendance counsellor from the Hamilton-Wentworth School Board; Betty Brown, Superintendent of Education, Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board; Jack Barbibeau, Director from Home Schooling Legal Defense Association (HSLDA); Jake Zwart, Secretary of the Ontario Christian Home Educators' Connection (OCHEC); Albert Lubberts, president of OFTP and Donna Sheehan, executive member of OFTP.

SECTION 1: NOTIFICATION TO HOME SCHOOL

1. When a school board has been informed or has reason to believe that a family is home schooling, the school board should provide the family with:
-- a copy of this document;
-- a copy of the Notification to Home School Form (sample to be provided);
-- resources and services that the school board is able to offer in assisting the family;
-- a directory of home schooling support groups the family may contact. (Support groups within the board's jurisdiction will provide the appropriate information to the board.)

Parents will return the completed form to the school board within 14 days. For statistical purposes, the school board will request parents to complete a Form annually.

2. Notification to Home School Form
On the Notification to Home School Form, parents or guardians are requested to provide their name, address and phone, the name and date of birth of school age children. Parents will sign the Form and return it to the board selecting one of the following options:

-- I/we as parent(s)/guardian(s) of the child/children named herein assume sole and full responsibility for the education of the child/children.

-- I/we as parent(s)/guardian(s) of the child/children named herein wish to involve the school board in assisting in the education of the child/children.

3. School boards which receive a Form where option 1 has been selected, that is parents/guardian(s) indicate that they assume sole and full responsibility for the education of the child/children, will issue a letter of acknowledgement to the family (sample to be provided). A school board will inquire further into the matter only if there are compelling reasons for believing that satisfactory instruction is not occurring.

SECTION 2: FAMILY AND SCHOOL BOARD COLLABORATION
School boards which receive a Form where option 2 has been selected, that is parents/guardian(s) indicate that they wish to involve the school board in assisting in the education of the child/children, will issue a letter of acknowledgement to the family (sample to be provided). The school board should indicate the services and resources which it is willing to make available to parents.

SECTION 3: DISPUTE RESOLUTION
School boards may have reason to inquire further into cases when they have reasons to believe that satisfactory instruction is not occurring in order to ensure that the needs of children are being met. Examples included:
? parents do not submit or refuse to submit a Notification to Home School Form;
? credible evidence exists that satisfactory instruction is not occurring;
? a child is suddenly withdrawn from school to be home schooled and there is reason to believe that home schooling is not the reason for the withdrawal.

In such cases, the school board attendance counsellor will request the parent to submit a Form and will request to meet with the parent to discuss the situation and concerns. The school board could refer the parents to one of the provincial home schooling organizations if it is appropriate.

SECTION 4: PROVINCIAL INQUIRIES
When a school board is unable to resolve the situation at the local level, it may request the Provincial School Attendance Counsellor to inquire into the case under s. 24(2) of the Education Act. The provincial School Attendance Counsellor appoints ministry staff to conduct an inquiry. If an inquiry determines that a child is not receiving satisfactory instruction and the Provincial School Attendance Counsellor orders that the child attend school, the school board must decide what action is appropriate.

June 1999

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A letter sent to Albert Lubberts, President of OFTP, from Janet Ecker who was the Minister of Education in 2001. This is in response to a letter that Mr. Lubberts sent to Ms. Ecker.

May 23, 2001

Dear Mr. Lubberts,

Thank you for your letter about matters related to home schooling. I also acknowledge correspondence that Premier Harris forwarded to me on your behalf. I regret the delay in responding; however, I am pleased to reply.

Home schooling is recognized as a viable alternative means of providing education to a child. Some parents believe that the best education is the one they provide themselves and this choice needs to be supported. This government repects parents' choice and will support their homeschooling efforts. In this regard, we recently announced our intention to eliminate
institutional bias against home schooling. In addition, the Ministry of Education will facilitate home-schooling parents' access to standard tests and other learning tools.

In 1998, the current Provincial School Attendance Counsellor initiated a series of meetings with representatives of key stakeholders groups to review successful practices with respect to home schooling, and to better understand the views of stakeholders. The purpose of the meetings was to ensure that the ministry clearly understood the views of the home-schooling representatives and could therefore take them into account when considering any changes to current provincial policy.

The result of this work was a document developed by the stakeholders entitled "Home Schooling: Successful Practices, which you mentioned in your letter. The government's recent decision is consistent with this document.

The Provincial School Attendance Counsellor, Jim Sebastian, will contact you to discuss the government's direction on home schooling.

Thank you again for writing.

Sincerely,
(signed)
Janet Ecker
Minister

cc: The Honourable Michael D. Harris, MPP
Premier