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Emergency Hearing

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bigql83

Member
What is the name of your state South Carolina

My son's mother decided this year not to enroll him in public school and she decided that she will home school him instead. He's 12 years old and was going to the 7th grade this year.

She's married, she also has a younger 8yr daughter, they live in public housing, her and husband are unemployed. She doesnt even have a computer or acess to the internet at her home.

Today should have been his first day of school, Ive had court ordered visititaion for the last 7 years. My son is with me a third of the time, I want my son enrolled in school, and she is against that, I have an appointment with my lawyer Monday, I'm worried that he will be left behind this year because she is incapable of homeschooling my son. What are my options?
 


stealth2

Under the Radar Member
Do you have joint legal custody (i.e. decision making)? What does your court order say about schooling/education?
 

bigql83

Member
No, in the temporary court order I was ordered joint legal custody, but in the final order there is no mention of it. Also my court order was setup for me to pick up and return my son directly to

school since he's with during the school week. But other than that there's nothing else in my order about school.
 

bigql83

Member
Yes and that's what I'm afraid of, I have a good chance at getting full custody, but that will take too much time, and I'm worried about my son falling behind in school this year because she doesn't have the ability or the means to home school him herself
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
Yes and that's what I'm afraid of, I have a good chance at getting full custody, but that will take too much time, and I'm worried about my son falling behind in school this year because she doesn't have the ability or the means to home school him herself

Well, you could attempt an emergency motion to try to convince a judge to order her to send the child to school, but there is not guarantee that a judge will agree that its an emergency therefore the judge might not hear it on an emergency basis, but might just set it for the normal calendar. It cannot hurt to try.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
What evidence do you have for the court that would show that mom is incapable of homeschooling?
 

bigql83

Member
What evidence do you have for the court that would show that mom is incapable of homeschooling?

I guess I don't really have any proof, but she doesn't have any lesson plans, a computer, access to the internet, etc. This is the first day and I'll have to find out more later, but I doubt that she followed the proper procedure and notified the school district.

She or her husband also can't pass a drug test either, they're both unemployed and their only income is my son's child support. She doesnt have anything planned out, I asked her what exactly will she be teaching my son and she replied math, reading, social studies, and science.

Last year my son was taking classes like robotics and writing code, subjects she doesn't know about and can't teach. My son also wants to attend regular school, he doesnt want to be stuck at home with his mother all day. Hopefully I'll get some good news on Monday but I dont know.
 

HRZ

Senior Member
Unfortunately for your point of view and perhaps to detriment of your child ...just about any parent with a HS diploma , even one awarded for completion of an IEP , is entitled to home school a child if they pay some rudimentary attention to SC law as to schedules and cirriculum ..look law up.

I am not a fan of home schooling as being in childs best interest in most cases....but the law allows it ..unless your order gives you a strong say in educational matters .

You best hope your lawyer can find some logic that sways court to require actual attendance in local public school

Lack of internet is not compelling ..unless local school district requires on line links for some reason...and even then around me one could access free public links at a decent number of libraries and social service centers .

I think its NUTS to assume a child can get an appropriate education at home...but law says otherwise !
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Unfortunately for your point of view and perhaps to detriment of your child ...just about any parent with a HS diploma , even one awarded for completion of an IEP , is entitled to home school a child if they pay some rudimentary attention to SC law as to schedules and cirriculum ..look law up.

I am not a fan of home schooling as being in childs best interest in most cases....but the law allows it ..unless your order gives you a strong say in educational matters .

You best hope your lawyer can find some logic that sways court to require actual attendance in local public school

Lack of internet is not compelling ..unless local school district requires on line links for some reason...and even then around me one could access free public links at a decent number of libraries and social service centers .

I think its NUTS to assume a child can get an appropriate education at home...but law says otherwise !

I think it's nuts to make such a blanket statement. What if mom & dad were retired elementary & high school teachers, respectively? What if they were college professors and EdD's? Sure, there should be a bit more qualification, but to imply that no child could ever get an appropriate education at home is ludicrous.

The state actually requires the parents to take a skills test in order to home school their child (unless they go through an organization) and it requires (as you stated) a certain minimum curriculum.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
I think it's nuts to make such a blanket statement. What if mom & dad were retired elementary & high school teachers, respectively? What if they were college professors and EdD's? Sure, there should be a bit more qualification, but to imply that no child could ever get an appropriate education at home is ludicrous.

The state actually requires the parents to take a skills test in order to home school their child (unless they go through an organization) and it requires (as you stated) a certain minimum curriculum.

Home schooling does work better for some children. Particularly ones that do better with very individualized attention. Others do better in a regular school setting.

I think however that this particular mother, with no internet access and no means to purchase a curriculum, would be hard pressed to do adequately by her child.
 

CTU

Meddlesome Priestess
She or her husband also can't pass a drug test either, they're both unemployed and their only income is my son's child support.
.

How do you know this?

(And by "know", I mean "what proof do you have")
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Home schooling does work better for some children. Particularly ones that do better with very individualized attention. Others do better in a regular school setting.

I think however that this particular mother, with no internet access and no means to purchase a curriculum, would be hard pressed to do adequately by her child.

Internet access is not part of the requirements, nor is a commercial curriculum.

Please understand that I'm not disagreeing that this may not be the best thing for this parent/child combination, I'm just pointing out that our OP really can't prove the elements he may need to prove in order to get this choice overridden by the court.
 
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