Before reading this material, it would be helpful for you
to first read the State of NC Private School Requirements.

How may NC conventional non-public schools legally serve NC home school families?  Under North Carolina law, home schools enrolling students of compulsory attendance age must be registered with this office.  Home schooled students must receive their academic instruction from their parent, guardian or a member of the household in which the child resides.  The legal concept embodied in the home school statutes is that the parent/guardian do the academic instructing of the student him/herself -- not someone outside the home in a traditional classroom setting.  However, conventional private schools may provide these parents/guardians certain types of support services including textbooks, curriculum guidance, instructional materials, a faculty advisor, nationally standardized achievement test services at the school, and student participation in various non-academic enrichment activities such as library usage, field trips, band, chorus and driver education.

Instead of the family registering with DNPE as a home school, may a conventional non-public school enroll the student in its school but release the student to the parent for a portion of each school day for the parent to also teach certain academic subjects to the student instead of the conventional non-public school?  Yes.  However, the conventional non-public school will then assume the full legal responsibility for the complete oversight of the student's education.  Local compulsory attendance enforcement officials will then regard the student as being enrolled in and regularly attending the conventional non-public school.  Should the parent be approached by local compulsory attendance enforcement officials, the parent would explain that the student is not enrolled in a home school but rather in a local conventional non-public school's "teaching-at-home program" (or some similarly named program) for a portion of each academic day.  The parent must not be registered with DNPE since such an educational arrangement cannot qualify as a home school.  See G.S. 115C-563(a) and also "Professional Educators’ Role in Home Schools."  It is strongly suggested that schools offering such programs require that the teaching parent hold a minimum of a high school diploma or its equivalent to participate in them.

May home-schooled students participate in conventional non-public school inter-school competition such as sports teams or fine arts contests?  Non-public school laws do not address this question.  This decision would be made by the conventional non-public school or by the athletic or fine arts competition oversight organization of which the conventional non-public school is a member.

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