Virginia Homeschool Requirements

Under VA Code § 22.1-254.1(B), parents electing home instruction must annually notify the division superintendent in August, providing: (1) a description of the curriculum (list of subjects); and (2) evidence of meeting one of the four qualifications under subsection A. The NOI deadline is August 15. Parents who move into a school division or begin home instruction after the school year has begun must notify as soon as practicable and comply within 30 days. The superintendent must notify the state Superintendent of the number of students receiving home instruction.

Under VA Code § 22.1-254.1(B), the NOI must include 'a description of the curriculum, limited to a list of subjects to be studied during the coming year.' The statute does not enumerate mandatory subjects; the parent determines the curriculum. However, evidence of adequate educational progress must be demonstrated annually (subsection C), creating an implicit expectation of substantive instruction across standard academic areas.

VA Code § 22.1-254.1 does not prescribe a minimum number of instructional days or hours per day. Virginia's compulsory attendance statute (§ 22.1-254) requires children to attend school 'for the same number of days and hours per day as the public schools,' but the home instruction statute does not replicate this requirement. Instead, adequacy is judged through the annual assessment/evaluation requirement under subsection C.

Under VA Code § 22.1-254.1(C), by August 1 following the school year, parents must provide either: (i) evidence the child attained a composite score at or above the 4th stanine on a nationally normed standardized achievement test, or an equivalent score on the ACT, SAT, or PSAT; or (ii) an evaluation indicating adequate educational growth and progress, which may be an evaluation letter from a person licensed to teach in any state or a person with a master's degree or higher in an academic discipline, or a report card/transcript from an institution of higher education or correspondence school. Failure to provide evidence may result in a one-year probationary period with a remediation plan.

VA Code § 22.1-254.1 does not impose explicit recordkeeping requirements beyond the annual NOI submission and the annual progress evidence. The statute also provides (§ 22.1-254.1(G)) that division superintendents and local school boards shall not disclose to the Department or outside persons information provided by a parent to satisfy the requirements of this section, without written parental consent.

Under VA Code § 22.1-254.1(A), a parent may provide home instruction if they: (i) hold a high school diploma; (ii) are a teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board; (iii) provide the child with a program of study or curriculum (which may be delivered through correspondence or distance learning or any other manner); or (iv) provide evidence of ability to provide an adequate education. Option (iii) is broadly interpreted and is the most commonly used pathway, as any curriculum or program of study satisfies it.

Under VA Code § 22.1-271.4, any parent of a child being home instructed must comply with immunization requirements under § 32.1-46 in the same manner as if the child were enrolled in school. Upon request, documentary proof of immunization must be submitted to the division superintendent. Exemptions are available for: (i) religious objection via affidavit stating immunization conflicts with religious tenets or practices; or (ii) medical contraindication certified by a licensed physician, licensed advanced practice registered nurse, or local health department.

VA Code § 22.1-254.1 does not create separate procedural requirements for students with disabilities. Parents of children with IEPs who withdraw from public school to home instruct may voluntarily request continued special education services from the district. Under IDEA, districts must conduct 'Child Find' activities but are not required to provide services to parentally placed private/home school students equivalent to those in public school. Virginia home instruction families of children with disabilities typically proceed under the same NOI and progress demonstration framework as other families.

Under VA Code § 22.1-254.1(B), parents who move into a school division or begin home instruction after the school year has begun must notify the division superintendent as soon as practicable and comply with all requirements within 30 days. There is no specific form for withdrawal from public school mandated by § 22.1-254.1, but parents should notify the school. Re-enrollment in public school requires contacting the local school division; the school may assess grade placement.

Under VA Code § 22.1-254(A), every parent of a child who will have reached their fifth birthday by September 30 of any school year and who has not passed their eighteenth birthday must cause the child to attend school or provide an approved alternative, including home instruction under § 22.1-254.1. Additionally, under § 22.1-254(B)(1), a religious exemption from compulsory attendance is available where both child and parent are conscientiously opposed to school attendance by reason of bona fide religious training or belief.

VA Code § 22.1-254.1 does not provide for a state-issued diploma for home instruction students. Parents may issue diplomas based on completion of their own program. Under § 22.1-254.1(F), school boards must make AP, PSAT/NMSQT, and PreACT examinations available to home instruction students and must adopt written policies specifying registration deadlines and notifying students and parents of financial assistance available to low-income students.

Unlike states such as West Virginia, Virginia has no statewide law granting home instruction students a right to participate in public school extracurricular activities or interscholastic athletics. Access depends entirely on local school board policies. Part-time enrollment (including for CTE courses) may be available under VA Code § 22.1-254.1 and § 22.1-253.13:2 for students under the home instruction statute (not the religious exemption pathway).