…she was just told she’d have to repeat Algebra I all over again.
Both of our girls (age 13 and 15) have been homeschooled for the past several years (with some full years of public school mixed in there, too.**). We moved to Lago Vista, TX this past April with the plan of enrolling them in Lago Vista High School.
Because they’ve been homeschooled, both girls are well advanced for their age in terms of classes they’ve taken. For example, our 15-year old almost has enough credits to be a junior this year. Because of my lousy job teaching her this past school year, her grade in English III/IV alone keeps us from wanting to push for advancing a year. Our 15-year-old has not only passed Biology, but Chemistry as well. Anyway, when registering for classes at Lago Vista High School we were told by the counselor that her credits would not be accepted. “Credit By Examination” (CBE) is the only way they will accept her credits for classes.
While those words alone don’t bother me, the fact that they cost $90 each to take (plus a $30 proctor fee per test) and that our kids would have to turn around and take these tests this week do. This is unfair. Both our kids would help increase the level of intelligence at Lago Vista High School (and our 13-year-old Lago Vista Middle School). I am glad to volunteer to help students in writing and journalism classes, offering my 26-year experience in magazine publishing to give the kids help (guest speaking or perhaps even helping after school on the yearbook committee, etc on a regular basis).
Our youngest has 10 years of dancing experience, which would also benefit the dance team the middle school has started. Tim Tebow was homeschooled. There are lots of other examples of bright students showing that learn-at-your-own-pace can be a great way for some students to excel at learning. Lago Vista schools would benefit from having the Van Pelts enrolled. There is no doubt about that. Why the principal is holding her ground does not make sense. It really doesn’t.
Our 8th grader has taken Algebra I and would like to enroll her in Geometry. Can you imagine having to repeat a class that you took already? A whole entire year. We read the fine print of the local school board and here are a few things we saw:
1. Texas law states that Home schooled students are to be treated and given the same standards of accreditation as that of private school students. They cannot discriminate against one or the other. They need to be treated equally.
2. The CBE standard is to get a 70 or better on the test if we can show that they’ve taken the course; or a 90 if we can’t show evidence that we’ve taken the course.
We handed in all of the Algebra tests that our 13-year-old took, firmly showing that she’s mastered the material. They don’t accept it. She’ll have to get a 90 on the test and she’ll have to take the test tomorrow. My wife was talking to one of the principals and was told “Saxon Math is not on any of our approved curriculum lists.” That is weird. The story on why the schools don’t use Saxon Math anymore (here)? It’s that it was too hard for the slow students to keep up. That is the opposite of the general attitude my wife heard when told “Saxon Math isn’t on any of our approved curriculum lists.”
Our 15-year-old is being told that she’ll have to enroll as a freshman. This is far away from the fact that she could probably enter as a junior and keep up and do well. The amount of tests that she’ll have to take (just to prove that she took these courses and learned the material) numbers high: Algebra I, Algebra II, English I, English II, World History, Geography, Spanish, Biology and Chemistry. Sigh. Take those 9 courses and multiply the $90 test fee + $30 proctor fee. This is not fair. We don’t have that kind of money sitting around. And how would you like to take a test tomorrow (considering the school year ended in May)?
We are mad.
We’re not “home school evangelists” or people that judge others for not homeschooling (which is an error that happens with some), nor are we “public school paranoid” types. My wife and I both went to public school, are both very religious (evangelical Christians hate the word “religion,” because we have a personal relationship with Jesus and it’s not just ritualistic stuff for us, but I like to use a word like “religious” to communicate with people that might not be believers. They might get confused about this “not religion/relationship” argument and I want to cut to the chase and not confuse, so I’ve started to willingly use the word religion and call myself “religious” when I think I might be communicating to someone outside the “evangeli-ghetto.”), but even though we are religious, we’re not freaky about it. Anyone (I promise) that we talk to about it never comes away thinking that we’re weird or out of touch. In fact, because we can explain why we’re doing this in a reasonable manner, some people come away changing their negative perception about homeschooling.
My wonderful wife has been very involved in our parenting. She blows me away with her knowledge, her study (constantly reading and learning how to improve). She’s helped out as much as the K, 1, 2 and 3rd grade teachers in Hutto, TX would allow. She went to every PTA meeting and the school board meetings. She knew all the kids in her kids’ classes. The school board in Hutto was made up of people that didn’t have kids in elementary school. In fact, only one or two even had kids in high school. Hutto was growing exponentially at the time (early 2000’s) and the school board was not making wise decisions with the children’s best interest at heart. So my wife decided to run for the school board. The Hutto school system, which was “exemplary” when we moved in (in 2001), but has quickly slid to much poorer levels, so my wife decided, ‘You know what? If I don’t win this school board position to where I can make a difference, I’m going to pull them out and home school them.’ They thrived in this environment and we even enrolled them at Thrall School (next to the HM Ranch office that I went to every day) for a year. We don’t have a problem with public schools, we just want the best for our kids and Hutto wasn’t offering that anymore. So, that’s why we’ve homeschooled.
And now Lago Vista High School and Middle School are giving us all this garbage about enrolling our kids. I went to the Texas Homeschool Coalition, which we are members of and are in place to help us in situations like this. They told us to print out the Texas legal ruling about homeschool credits being on equal footing with private schools and then take that to the principal, along with a printout of the local school’s policies on course credits. We did. Brick wall response. We were told to go to the school board. We talked to the Superintendent. Nice guy, but he didn’t get any results.
The fine print says that, while the school will take many different standards into effect when determining course credits (meaning they will evaluate using several methods), it is up to the discretion of the principal as to how that will be enforced. If Lago Vista High School (and Middle School) is concerned about placing students in the best possible classes and grades, that’s fine. If they want to keep their federal funding coming in wherever possible, that’s fine. If they want to keep their “exemplary” status, I’m all for that. But doesn’t it make sense to carefully look at our homeschool curriculum, our grades, transcripts, tests (showing the students’ work) into account? And doesn’t it make sense to test them using their own tests (instead of forcing us to cough up $1000) over a reasonable amount of time (instead of rushing it in front of our kids)?
You’re blowing it, Lago Vista High School. You could be adding two very valuable students to your school enrollment. That really stinks that our choices are enrolling our kids in grades/classes behind their aptitude, skills and education or finding some other homeschool route or charter school, etc? It really stinks. Shame on you, Lago Vista High School for being so wrong about these decisions.
I was looking forward to being involved in my kids’ activities and education at Lago Vista High and Middle Schools. I’ll still support the school and the kids (and go to the home football games), but I’m so disappointed – and not just for me, but for my kids. They aren’t happy with these decisions, either.
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