We just moved to Elizabethton, near Johnson City, we have three children ages 2,3 and 8. We have homeschooled my oldest son his whole life. I have looked up the laws and they seem easy enough to comply. What I was wondering, is what is the attitude of the officials in the area? I know in ohio how the idividual school districts chose to interpert the law could make the difference between a nice letter of acceptance or a hassle. Also I read somewhere they can charge $80 for registering after Aug.1. Will I have to pay this fee even if my son was registered in Ohio? What kind of information will I be required to submit? Will I have to give them a social security number? Any advice, wisdom or ideas would be most helpful. Thank you for all your help. mlbeebe2000@yahoo.com

-- michelle beebe (mlbeebe2000@yahoo.com), January 08, 2002

Answers

Michelle, we moved from TN about a year and a half ago.My first advice is don't register with the school board. Find a private school to register thru. Much less pressure. I found the attitude of everyone in TN is much better than in KY. To find a school to register thru contact HSLDA or THEA. The school that we are registered with is in Middle TN (Daniel 1 Academy). It costs just under $100 to register and that does include testing. Some schools have satellite programs that cost more but they do provide all of the books. The school that you register with does not have to be in TN. I have known people who were registered with A Beka (Fla), Bob Jones (SC), and Christian Liberty(Illinois???). If you have any questions I would be glad to help; just e-mail me privately. Good luck!!!

-- Lou Ann in KY (homes_cool@msn.com), January 08, 2002.

Michelle, We live in middle TN, and our neighbor just got in big trouble with the school board for registering with a school in Ohio. They said you must use a TN school. I don't think they would have bothered them, though, if the lady hadn't had a fit and told the principal she was going to homeschool when she withdrew the kids from the public school. We registered with Gateway Christian in Memphis. It was very easy, and was only $40. They did ask for info that we did not provide, like shot records and previous school records. I told them we didn't have these, and they said that they weren't mandatory. I would not register with the school district. If you register with a religious school things will be much easier for you all the way around. You can get around many of the state regs, you'll see what I mean when you get into it a little more. Also, the school will act as a go between for you if the state ever has any questions. Go to MTHEA on the net for a list of religious based schools in TN.

-- Paula (chipp89@bellsouth.net), January 09, 2002.

Thank you very much,I had thought about registering with a christian school but had thought it would cost too much.

-- Michelle (mlbeebe2000@yahoo.com), January 09, 2002.