NOTE:  Before reading the following, it is recommended that you read the
State of North Carolina Home School Information Packet.

How do I close my home school?  Call DNPE anytime at (919) 733-4276 from a touch tone telephone.  When the automatic voice mail attendant message begins, press button 1 for the home school menu.  From the home school menu, press 2 to close your home school.  The recorded voice will then ask you to leave (after the tone sounds) your official school name (as listed in the DNPE records); the North Carolina county in which it was located; the name of the chief administrator of the home school; and, state whether or not the school is a new one.  Hang up when you have orally given the requested information.  If you prefer instead to send written notice, simply mail DNPE those three items of information along with your name and address and request that the school be closed.

When a home school has no students enrolled, how long may its Notice of Intent remain legally active?  For no more than three consecutive calendar months.  The NC General Statutes require that every home school operate on a regular schedule for at least nine calendar months each year.  A school can operate on a regular schedule only when there is at least one student enrolled.  Also, see "Enrollment, Student -- May the school be considered legally open or active when there are currently no students attending?"

Who possesses termination power?  The statutory power to terminate a North Carolina home school's operation rests solely in the hands of the home school chief administrator.  He/she may exercise that authority at any time either by:
          1.  Notifying DNPE of the termination decision; or,
          2.  Failing to meet all of the home school legal requirements.
      The consequence of the latter:  The home school is no longer a legally valid one (one which satisfies North Carolina's compulsory attendance law).  The home school administrator, at that point, risks compulsory attendance prosecution by local public school officials.
      An invalid school address can cause very serious legal problems.  The home school statutes require that the home school chief administrator provide the school's address to DNPE.  An incorrect address (like any violation of the home school statutes) automatically invalidates the school's Notice of Intent and legal status.  Consequently, the DNPE database then reflects that the school is inactive (closed).  The home school administrator may re-activate the home school's legal status at any time by:  Downloading the Notice of Intent form from the DNPE web site; completing it; writing the word RE-OPEN in the upper right hand corner; and, sending it to DNPE.  Since the diploma evidence would already be in the DNPE paper files, attaching diploma evidence again would usually not be necessary -- provided the word "RE-OPEN" is written at the top of the form.
      Every August, the division mails each home school administrator information designed to update the division's files on school addresses and on compliance to the home school statutes.  The labels for this mailing are generated each June 30.  If an August mailing to a new home school is returned, the DNPE staff always double-checks the address from the Notice of Intent filed a few weeks earlier.  If it was not an entry mistake of the DNPE staff, it is then handled as a closure.  Returned mail for old schools are treated as invalid addresses.  Home school chief administrators not receiving an August mailing by August 25 should always contact DNPE by the end of August.  DNPE's experience with returned mail (especially since the early 1990's) indicates that, in the majority of cases, the home school family has either left the state or is no longer home schooling its children.
      An invalid address will also create problems when the home school chief administrator attempts to order a North Carolina student driving eligibility certificate for a student driver under age 18.  He/she will encounter a six-month waiting period -- beginning with the legal re-activation date of the school as listed in the DNPE database -- before a student driving eligibility certificate can be ordered.
      With the heavy volume of paperwork handled by the very small sized DNPE staff, the possibility of human error always exists.  A few suggestions to help reduce that potential include:
          1. Inform DNPE of any mailing address changes by each June 25;
          2. Whenever possible, call in the address change during weekday business hours and talk directly
              to a staff member (by pressing button 2 or remaining on the line) or leave a message for a staff
              member to return your call.  DNPE normally makes the change in the database while the caller
              is on the line.  The caller should then ask the DNPE staff member to repeat what has been
              typed;
          3. When returning them to DNPE, be sure to always note any address changes as such on the
              4" x 6" pink (or gray) colored postal card mailed every August to each second year and older
              home school;
          4. Do not attach notes about address changes or closures to the annual student test result and
              attendance records you might mail to DNPE.  They may more easily get overlooked.  Send
              them instead in a separate envelope.  If it must be attached, make it more easily "catch the
              eye" of the DNPE staff.
      Home schools which have moved out-of-state; those reporting no student enrollment; and, those not operating on a regular schedule for more than three consecutive calendar months during any July 1 through the following June 30 period of time are also treated as inactive schools.  Also, see "Mailings from DNPE to All Schools, Annual."
 

FAQ Page

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