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Home-school policies debated
By Jeff Pikulsky
VALLEY INDEPENDENT
Monday, October 11, 2004
Some Mon Valley school district superintendents say opposition to their districts' home schooling programs is non-existent.
That's not the case elsewhere in the state, where two families who home-school their children filed suit against public school districts Sept. 27.
The parents contend in the filing that they don't have to report their educational plans to school officials, according to the state's Religious Freedom Protection Act.
Thomas and Timari Prevish filed suit against the Norwin School District, and Darrell and Kathleen Combs filed suit against Homer-Center School District in Indiana County.
Their complaints contend Pennsylvania's Religious Freedom Protection Act nullifies requirements in the state's school code that force home-schoolers to present proof of curriculum and coursework completed.
Thomas Prevish holds a doctorate and is an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University, while his wife has a master's degree in education.
The couple said Norwin School District Superintendent Richard Watson elected to conduct a compulsory review of their education plan when they refused to meet with him to lay out their education plan for their children.
The Combses sued after Superintendent Joseph F. Marcoline didn't initiate a hearing, but charged them with truancy instead.
Their suit states Marcoline improperly skipped the step of a hearing.
The cases are nearly identical to a suit between Dr. Mark and Maryalice Newborn and Franklin Regional School District.
Westmoreland County Judge William J. Ober recently allowed that suit to go forward when he ruled Franklin Regional's threat of a truancy charge was an adequate reason for a lawsuit.
The Religious Freedom Protection Act was signed last year.
Monessen School District Superintendent Dr. Alex Warren said he is not familiar with the legislation and is unsure if it supports the parents' claims.
"What they're professing as an argument may or may not be appropriate, I really don't know," he said. "The key question is how does it relate with education."
Warren and Dr. Cynthia Chelen, the district's coordinator of curriculum and instruction who tracks Monessen's home school students, said school officials have not heard complaints about how the students are monitored.
Chelen said 12 home-schooled students living in the area report to Monessen school officials twice a year and take an annual standardized test as a means of assessment.
She said the program has been well received by parents in the district who teach their children at home.
"We have never had a problem with the parents we have," she said.
Ringgold Superintendent Ed Repka said learning plans for a few home-schooled children in his district are checked at the end of each school year.
He said there has been no opposition to the home-school program.
"We've had no objection to it in any way," he said.
Like Repka and Warren, Charleroi Area Superintendent Dr. Brad Ferko said he is unfamiliar with the Religious Freedom Protection Act.
But he wondered why parents would refuse to cooperate with their school districts in educating their children.
"I don't understand why anyone wouldn't want to share their curriculum," he said.
Ferko said a small group of home-schooled students and their parents share their education plans at the beginning of each school year and prove they have met their goals at the end of the year.
"We haven't heard any issues," he said. "We seem to have a very good relationship with people who are doing home schooling or schooling in other areas."
Frazier Superintendent Dr. Frederick Smeigh said it was difficult to comment on the lawsuit without knowing the parents' religious discipline.
He said a case where an Amish family contested public schooling methods was the only similar instance he could recall.
"There's no religious exemption from attending school that I'm aware of for compulsory education," Smeigh said. "These people would have to show somehow that compulsory education was infringing upon their right to practice religion as they see fit."
Smeigh said 15 home schooled students in his district submit their education plans at the beginning of each school year and prove what they've learned to school officials at the end of the year.
He said the only debate concerning home schooled students in the district was if they should be allowed to participate in extracurricular activities.
He said the school district has disallowed the privilege.
The Monessen School Board took the same action this year.
Belle Vernon Area School District Superintendent Robert Nagy was unavailable for comment.
Linda Wohar, of Brownsville, a home schooling advocate, has home schooled 10 of her children.
She said she recently read about the lawsuit and concluded it is "invalid."
"It's not really something applicable to home schoolers in PA at all. It's kind of vague," she said of the lawsuit. "They're saying that it keeps them from practicing their religion. It's not really that appropriate and most home schoolers aren't really behind them."
Wohar said she believes the lawsuit is a protest of sorts against the state's home schooling regulations.
"I think the point of it is to try to bring emphasis to the difficulty in the law. PA has one of the most difficult laws in the country. We're like number two," she said. "They're saying the law is infringing on their practice of religion and the district should have no say so in what they do as a home-schooler."
Wohar said the suit would not succeed.
"I don't see it doing much going rather than making people look silly," she said. "Most of us recognize that it's not valid.
"I'm not in favor of the rigidity of our law, but you still have to recognize it is the law. Some people don't want any law, and that's where I disagree with them."
Tribune-Review reporter Matthew Junker contributed to this article.
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