Wisconsin Homeschool Requirements

Under Wis. Stat. §115.30(3), every administrator of a home-based private educational program must submit the online PI-1206 Homeschool Enrollment Report to DPI on or before October 15 annually. The form is submitted through the HOMER (Home-Based Private Educational Program Enrollment Report) system at https://sms.dpi.wi.gov/HomeSchoolParent/. The PI-1206 is not an application—neither DPI nor the school district has authority to approve or deny a homeschool program. Filing constitutes official notification that the child is enrolled in a home-based program. DPI retains submitted records for seven years; parents are advised to maintain their own copies. Per Wis. Stat. §115.001(3g), a home-based private educational program means instruction provided by the parent/guardian or a designated person, and cannot serve more than one family unit.

Wis. Stat. §118.165(1)(d) requires that the program 'provides a sequentially progressive curriculum of fundamental instruction in reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies, science and health.' This subsection explicitly does not require inclusion of any concept in conflict with religious doctrines. Wis. Stat. §118.165(1)(e) adds that the program must not be operated for the purpose of avoiding compulsory attendance. DPI has no express authority to monitor or verify the curriculum used; parents are solely responsible for determining how to meet the six-subject requirement and obtaining all materials at their own expense. No state approval or accreditation of home-based programs exists.

Wis. Stat. §118.165(1)(c) states that a qualifying program 'provides at least 875 hours of instruction each school year.' This mirrors the requirement for recognized private schools. However, the statutes contain no express authority for DPI or school districts to monitor, audit, or verify the hours provided. Parents bear sole responsibility for ensuring the 875-hour threshold is met. DPI recommends (but does not require) that parents maintain records of instruction, noting such records may be requested by employers, the military, or postsecondary institutions. There is no required daily hour minimum, and no attendance reporting mechanism separate from the PI-1206 enrollment notice.

Neither Wis. Stat. §118.165 nor any other Wisconsin statute requires home-based private educational program students to sit for standardized assessments or submit evidence of academic progress. The DPI FAQ explicitly confirms there is no required testing. DPI has no authority to request test results or other evidence of student achievement from homeschool families. If parents wish, they may voluntarily access private testing services or use curricula with built-in assessments, but none of these are reported to the state. Homeschool students may voluntarily sit for the ACT, SAT, or AP exams, particularly if planning postsecondary education.

There is no Wisconsin statute requiring home-based private educational program parents to maintain attendance logs, curriculum documents, student portfolios, or assessment records. Wis. Stat. §115.30(3) requires only the annual PI-1206 enrollment report. DPI retains submitted PI-1206 forms for seven years and advises parents to maintain their own copies, as the PI-1206 may be requested by colleges, the military, employers, and government programs. Beyond the PI-1206, no records must be submitted to or maintained for any state agency. DPI recommends keeping instructional records for practical purposes but expressly notes no legal requirement exists.

Wis. Stat. §118.165 and §118.15(4) contain no teacher qualification requirements for home-based private educational programs. DPI's FAQ explicitly states: 'Under Wisconsin law, there are no minimum educational requirements for parents who provide a home-based private educational program. Nor are homeschooling parents required to hold a teaching certificate or license.' Parents may provide the instruction themselves or designate any other person to do so, with no required credentials for the designated instructor. This contrasts sharply with requirements for public and private school teachers in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin's Student Immunization Law (Wis. Stat. §252.04 and DHS administrative rules) requires students attending public, private, or charter schools to provide proof of immunization or a written waiver (medical, religious, or personal conviction) within the first 30 days of school. However, students who are homeschooled or in fully virtual programs are exempt unless they participate in in-person classes or activities at a brick-and-mortar school. If a homeschooled student enrolls in extracurricular activities or courses at a public or private school, they must then present vaccination proof or a waiver. Wisconsin is one of 19 states allowing all three waiver types. Required vaccines for school-attending students include DTaP, MMR, Varicella, Hepatitis B, Polio, Tdap, and Meningococcal; these requirements do not apply to purely home-based students.

Under Wisconsin law and federal IDEA regulations, school districts have no mandatory obligation to provide special education services to homeschooled students. DPI FAQ states: 'No, school districts are not required to provide special education and related services to children with disabilities enrolled in home-based private educational programs.' However, districts may choose to provide such services; if they do, costs are not reimbursed through DPI categorical aids. Critically, the IDEA Child Find obligation remains: districts must proactively identify and evaluate all children in their boundaries who may have a disability, regardless of school placement. If a child is found to have a disability following evaluation, the district must offer a FAPE placement—typically enrollment in a public school program. If a parent unilaterally withdraws a child with an IEP from public school to homeschool, the district's obligation to provide FAPE through the IEP ceases, though Child Find obligations remain.

Wis. Stat. §115.30(3) requires the PI-1206 to be filed by October 15. If a child is withdrawn after October 15, the PI-1206 must be submitted on or before the date the child stops attending. The DPI enrollment data system (WISEdata) accepts a completed PI-1206 as official withdrawal/exit evidence for the school district. No district can compel submission of PI-1206 before October 15 if a parent has communicated intent to homeschool. When a homeschooled family decides to re-enroll a child in public or private school, the parent notifies the district directly and updates the PI-1206 in the HOMER system (setting enrollment to zero). There is no required re-enrollment process or waiting period.

Wis. Stat. §118.15(1)(a) requires any person having control of a child between the ages of 6 and 18 to cause the child to attend school. Wis. Stat. §118.15(4) specifies that instruction in a home-based private educational program meeting all criteria under §118.165(1) may be substituted for public or private school attendance. The compulsory age upper bound is 18—technically the end of the school term or semester in which the student turns 18. DPI confirms that children under 6 are not subject to compulsory attendance and cannot be formally enrolled in a PI-1206 program for 4K or 5K kindergarten purposes. Children who have reached age 6 on or before September 1 must be enrolled in school or a qualifying home-based program.

There is no state-prescribed graduation curriculum, credit requirement, or exit exam for Wisconsin homeschoolers. Parents determine their own graduation standards. DPI FAQ states: 'In Wisconsin, high school diplomas are issued by public and private schools. A home-based private educational program does not lead to a traditional Wisconsin high school diploma.' Parents may create a home-issued diploma, which the Wisconsin Homeschooling Parents Association indicates is widely accepted. Alternatively, homeschool graduates may pursue a GED or High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED), information for which is available at https://dpi.wi.gov/ged. Distance learning programs offered by private companies and universities may also award diplomas upon completion of their courses.

Wis. Stat. §118.133(1) (enacted through 2015 Wisconsin Act 55) requires every school board to permit resident pupils enrolled in a home-based private education program to participate in interscholastic athletics on the same basis and to the same extent as enrolled pupils. The homeschool program must provide the school board with a written statement that the pupil meets age, academic, and disciplinary requirements for participation; the board cannot question the accuracy or validity of that statement or request additional information. Districts may charge the same fees—including for uniforms and equipment—as charged to enrolled students. Homeschooled students may also participate in extracurricular activities and clubs on the same basis. Participation questions should be directed to the district's athletic director or the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) at www.wiaawi.org.