Blog

Assemblyman David Bobzien

Chairman, Assembly Education Committee
Via email: dbobzien@asm.state.nv.us

RE: AB 138

Dear Chairman Bobzien,

By way of introduction, Nevada Homeschool Network (NHN) seeks to advocate for the rights of parents to direct the education of their children. Parents in Nevada have been working under a good law, NRS 392.070 and NRS 392.700, since 2007.

We are not writing today about a homeschool issue but rather regarding AB 138 that may affect the choices currently available to Nevada families seeking the best future for their children.

Specifically, we are concerned with Section 13 of AB 138, which repeals certain provisions relating to the exemption of children from compulsory attendance. The three laws to be repealed under this bill are NRS 392.090, NRS 392.100, and NRS 392.110 (printed in full at the end of this letter). These laws appear to have been adopted in 1956. Although we realize that these laws may not have been utilized much in the recent past we wonder whether it is prudent at this time to remove any option currently available for young teens.

In addition, it appears that the main focus of AB 138 is to improve college readiness of our public high school students. However, we must acknowledge that not all students are college bound and further, some families may need to investigate options available to their high school age children that may not include an academic career, but rather seek to utilize paid apprenticeships or other forms of work to secure a future for the child and the family. The question before us today is whether academic education should be the only option for children between the ages of 14 and 18 or whether other choices should remain available to this age group to secure their futures.

We respectfully request that you consider amending AB 138 and delete Section 13 of AB 138 until more study can be done on the merits of the current law.

Sincerely,

NHN Officers
Frank Schnorbus, Chair; Barbara Dragon, Elissa Wahl, Laura Siegal, Kelley Millard-Radow

NRS 392.090 Juvenile court may permit child who has completed eighth grade to leave school. After review of the case, the juvenile court may issue a permit authorizing any child who has
completed the eighth grade to leave school.
NRS 392.100 Attendance excused if child 14 years of age or older must support himself or herself or child’s parent. Attendance required by the provisions of NRS 392.040 shall be excused when satisfactory written evidence is presented to the board of trustees of the school district in which the child resides that the child, 14 years of age or over, must work for his or her own or his or her parent’s support.
NRS 392.110 Attendance excused for child between 14 and 18 years of age who has completed eighth grade to enter employment or apprenticeship; written permit required.
1. Any child between the ages of 14 and 18 years who has completed the work of the first eight grades may be excused from full-time school attendance and may be permitted to enter proper
employment or apprenticeship, by the written authority of the board of trustees excusing the child from such attendance. The board’s written authority must state the reason or reasons for such excuse. 2. In all such cases, no employer or other person shall employ or contract for the services or time of such child until the child presents a written permit therefor from the attendance officer or board of trustees. The permit must be kept on file by the employer
and, upon the termination of employment, must be returned by the employer to the board of trustees or other authority issuing it.

 

NHN began working with the State Superintendent’s office last fall on the 2011 Legilsative Bill Draft Request process, and subsequently has had a series of meetings and discussions.

• BDR 438, submitted by the State Department of Education, lifted a restriction against homeschoolers taking distance education classes offered by the public school system (which includes charter schools since they are public schools).
• The BDR also imposed a requirement on homeschoolers who are leaving homeschooling to submit a letter to the district to withdraw their homeschool status.
• Currently it appears there are not any other BDRs or bills that directly affect homeschooling.

In the 2007 legislative session NHN stated its neutral position on homeschoolers taking public school distance education classes. In principle NHN supports the freedom that homeschoolers should be able to partake of public programs and services (such as public school classes) since homeschoolers are taxpayers too. But without safeguards, these alluring programs can devastate the distinctions between true homeschooling and the “look-a-like” public school distance education programs that are offered by both local districts and charter schools. Reports from homeschoolers in other states illustrate the critical necessity of keeping a clear delineation between the two types of schooling.

Since BDR 438 contained no safeguards whatsoever, such as limiting the number of public school distance ed classes a homeschooler can take (and still be called a homeschooler) to less than 50% of the workload, NHN opposed that portion of the BDR as it was written. State Superintendent Keith Rheault acknowledged and agreed with our concerns. Later, the Legislative Council Bureau (LCB) informed Dr. Rheault that this portion of the BDR was technically flawed as proposed. Dr. Rheault, heeding these concerns, struck that language from the BDR before it matured into an actual Assembly Bill.

Still remaining in the bill (BDR 438, now Assembly Bill 41) is the language pertaining to notifying the district if you decide to stop homeschooling and enroll in another school (public or private) or move out of state. In a meeting last week with Superintendent Rheault, NHN questioned the necessity of this clause for resolving problems the DoE is having with some schools (apparently) receiving state money for registered homeschoolers (which would be illegal). In this effort to understand the root problem and find a constructive resolution, Dr. Rheault agreed that this notification by the parent would not resolve the problem and would be an unnecessary burden on homeschoolers. He has agreed to request an amendment to remove that requirement when the bill is presented to the legislative Education subcommittee.

Only one line, pertaining to what a charter school needs to do if a former homeschooler enrolls in their school, remains. NHN believes this is the key element to resolving the aforementioned accountability problem, and supports that clause.

Our freedom to homeschool came at a great cost, with countless people spending countless hours over many years to get where we are today. NHN is committed to maintaining those freedoms! Any session, including 2011, can present difficult challenges to the parental right to homeschool. We at NHN want to thank you in advance for your prayers and support.

We will be givng a full update on this and any other issues that arise in the next two weeks, at the 2011 NHN Legislature Day & Homeschool Symposium on Friday, February 25th. More information can be found by clicking the Symposium tab above.

NHN Officers

We’ve endorsed two candidates running for FEDERAL offices:

SHARRON ANGLE, U.S. Senate

DR. JOE HECK, U.S. Congress, NV District 3

Sharron is a former homeschooler, sat for 8 years on the Assembly Education Committee, and was the sole sponsor of our 2007 Homeschool Freedom bill. She is a true friend of homeschoolers!

Dr. Heck served in the Nevada Senate, and is a homeschool supporter in principle and action.

Sharron’s opponent is Senator Harry Reid. Dr. Heck’s opponent is Congresswoman Dina Titus. NHN officer Laura Siegel has done some research, and we pass this along for your information.

Harry Reid is a NEA (National Education Association) hero. Here’s the link:

http://www.educationvotes.nea.org/2010/09/10/our-issues-harry-reid/

Here’s the beginning words of the article in the above link:
No single person was more responsible than Harry Reid when the U.S. Senate in August passed an education jobs bill to prevent class sizes from ballooning, stave off the elimination of school subjects such as arts, music and languages, and keep 161,000 educators in our schools…

A link to NEA “recommended” candidates is on this webpage:
http://www.educationvotes.nea.org/campaign-2010/
Specifically it says: For NEA members only: To find out which U.S. Senate and House candidates in your state are recommended by NEA for November’s elections as strong advocates of teachers, educators and public education, click here.

Both Harry Reid and Dina Titus are listed there.

Here is the NEA’s position on homeschooling (Resolution passed at the 2010 Convention in New Orleans)

B-82. Home Schooling. The National Education Association believes that home schooling programs based on parental choice cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience. When home schooling occurs, students enrolled must meet all state curricular requirements, including the taking and passing of assessments to ensure adequate academic progress. Home schooling should be limited to the children of the immediate family, with all expenses being borne by the parents/guardians. Instruction should be by persons who are licensed by the appropriate state education licensure agency, and a curriculum approved by the state department of education should be used.
The Association also believes that home-schooled students should not participate in any extracurricular activities in the public schools.

The above resolution, along with many others that may interest homeschoolers, can be seen in the article by Phyllis Schlafly entitled “NEA’s Latest Shenanigans”
http://www.eagleforum.org/psr/2010/aug10/psraug10.html

Lastly, the NEA’s report card for the Congress, both House and Senate, can be seen at this link: http://www.nea.org/home/19413.htm

The anti-homeschool NEA gives both Harry Reid and Dina Titus an “A”.

PLEASE VOTE!

Nevada Homeschool Network Officers
Frank Schnorbus (Chair)
Laura Siegel
Barbara Dragon (Treasurer)
Kelley Radow
Elissa Wahl (Secretary)

Postscript:
The Supreme Court decision earlier this year (Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission) has allowed NHN to exercise our free speech rights, so we can ENDORSE candidates without having to be a PAC, and we can tell you WHY we endorse them! NHN is organized as a 501(c)4 non-profit, exactly the same as the Citizens United group. Because we lobby and take positions on issues affecting homeschooling, we elected to organize this way instead of as a 501(c)3 non-profit, which is what most homeschool support groups and churches are.

State laws still govern whether we may or may not endorse candidates running for state offices. We are not attorneys, but we’ve been slogging through the NRS and so far we don’t see why we can’t do that also. To be safe, we haven’t yet, pending advice from more knowlegable people than us. If you can help us, please let us know!!

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Nevada Homeschoolers: Help Preserve America’s Future

Generation Joshua is assembling teams of adult and student volunteers to campaign in the final four days of crucial congressional races around the country. GenJ members participate for free–all you need to bring is a willingness to shape the future of our nation. Registration deadline is October 15.

Sign up today by clicking here Generation Joshua – Election 2010 ACTION TEAMS

CALL TO ACTION:
Nevada Homeschool Network is asking homeschool teens AND adults to register with Generation Joshua and work on an ACTION TEAM to get out the vote! Please, don’t delay REGISTER today by clicking the link above!

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ANGLE SIGNS PARENTAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT PLEDGE

It’s official! Sharron Angle, candidate for US Senate from Nevada has signed the pledge to support the Parental Rights Amendment to the US Constitution if elected on November 2nd!

NHN Officers Frank Schnorbus and Barbara Dragon both spoke with Sharron regarding the need to protect the liberty of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children as a fundamental right in the United States. With the threat of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child that the Obama Administration is determined to have the US Senate ratify the time for this amendment is now.

For more information on this important amendment to the US Constitution being proposed; go towww.parentalrights.org We urge you to call other Nevada candidates running for federal office and Governor.

Thank you for your help!

NHN Officers

CORRECTING THE RECORD: Favorable homeschool bill not passed in 1985 as reported by Wall Street Journal on 7/17/2010

Stephen Moore, senior economics writer for Wall Street Journal editorial pages, wrote a very lengthy and informative piece on Sharron Angle’s campaign to defeat Harry Reid printed in the weekend edition July 17-18, 2010 and posted online at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704682604575369093396496532.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

Of interest to homeschoolers is her role in the homeschool movement in Nevada that he mentions about half way through. Regrettably, however his facts aren’t correct on what happened to us here in NV and implies that Sharron won the battle in 1985 which was not the case as we all know. The following correction was posted in the comments section (pg. 9, #216) to his piece which is probably irrelevant to most but to Nevada homeschoolers, who worked so hard from 1983 to 2007 to make homeschooling free, it is not.

Just to clarify a point regarding Sharron’s service to NV home school parents. Although there were “homeschooling” bills proposed in the 1983 and 1985 NV Legislative sessions to change the existing 1947 law and Mrs. Angle did participate in those fights, both bills died and did not become law.

The result was that the NV State Board of Education was empowered for the next 24 years to regulate the rights of parents to educate their own children. And regulate they did; making NV one of the most restrictive states to home school in during that time. It took dedicated home school parents 20 years of fighting the NV State Board of Education to scale back some of the most restrictive regulations.

In 2006, Assemblywoman Sharron Angle sought relief for home school parents by requesting a Homeschool Freedom Bill. The bill was picked up State Senator Maurice Washington and championed by Sharron (who had given up her Assembly seat to run for Congress in ’06) for the 2007 NV Legislative session.

Nevada Homeschool Network (a statewide homeschool advocacy group established in 2002 and built on the work of homeschool parents before them) authored the bill and worked with Senator Washington and Sharron to usher the bill through the NV Legislature to a unanimous vote of approval in both houses. The bill was signed into law on June 14, 2007.

Of most significance is that the law removed home schooling from the jurisdiction of the NV State Board of Education and grants freedoms delineated in both the US and NV Constitutions. It is this kind of dedication to upholding the Constitution and the rights of all NV citizens that exemplifies Sharron’s record.

Sharron’s candidacy has served to bring the Homeschool Movement front and center on the national scene. We are most grateful to Sharron’s constant support of parental rights.

Good news from the NSHE Vice Chancellor for Academic & Student Affairs: “After reviewing Nevada Revised Statute 396.930, NSHE Legal Counsel determined that the core curriculum for home schooled students is not required under the statute.”

As a result the Homeschool Application for the Millennium Scholarship has been revised eliminating the request for proof of “core curriculum requirements” in Section VI. The new form can be found athttps://nevadatreasurer.gov/documents/millennium/Form-NoDiploma.pdf .

In addition, we were able to convince the NV State Treasurer’s Office (Millennium Scholarship) to correct and revise the MS Application for clarity so that future misunderstandings about who can apply and what the homeschool student needs to do to qualify for the scholarship is perfectly clear. To that end, the word “or” has been added to Section III of the application form between these two questions:

Did you obtain a GED?…

OR

Did you complete a homeschool program?…

Now it should be abundantly clear to all that homeschooled students DO NOT need to take the GED to qualify for the Nevada Millennium Scholarship.

We appreciate both the NSHE staff and NV State Treasurer’s MS staff for working with NHN to assure that all qualified homeschool students have the opportunity to apply for the scholarship.

Barbara Dragon

NHN Officer

For those of you with homeschool students who are graduating this year and plan to apply for the Millennium Scholarship (for use at NV Community Colleges, Universities and the State College) there is a “NEW” application form for homeschool students posted on the NV State Treasurer’s office website that we believe to be incorrect.

Thanks to the sharp eye of a homeschool mom who downloaded the application and alerted me of her concern, the following was found; in Section VI – Checklist of Requirements item # 2 has been added this year:

__ I have enclosed proof that I have met the core curriculum requirements as established by the Board of Regents for the graduating class of 2009 and after. (4 units of Math (including Algebra II); 4 units of English; 3 units of Natural Science; 3 units of Social Science and History)

NHN believes this requirement to be incorrect for students who did not graduate from a public or private high school in Nevada (homeschooled student or GED student). We have put a call into Board of Regents for clarification in this matter. Regent Ron Knecht has asked that our question be sent to their legal department for review. We hope to have answer soon.

Since your student won’t be applying for the Scholarship until May or June, depending on when they graduate, there is nothing to do at this time. This matter should be resolved by the time you need a correct application form.

We will keep you posted,

Barbara Dragon

NHN Officer

Dear Homeschool Parents and Friends of Homeschooling,

This has been a busy time for NHN Officers. We have been tracking bills submitted to the 2009 Nevada Legislative session. We are pleased to report that at this time none affect our Homeschool Freedom directly. However, there are bills that may have affect upon some in the homeschooling community.

We have listed the bills that we have reviewed in numerical order for easy reference. You can click on the bill number and it will take you to the page where the bill description/our position is listed below. We’ve also categorized the bills by importance/interest to homeschool families.

After the bills section we explain different ways you can make your opinion known on one or all of these bills. Thanks for staying engaged in the Legislative process.

Legislative Alert 3-31-09

Governor Gibbons proclaims March 30th – April 5th Home Education Awareness Week!!

In 2008 Governor Jim Gibbons signed the first of two Proclamations declaring Home Education Awareness Week.  

In 2009 he again signed the 2009 Home Education Proclamation.

2009 – Reno Celebration

Nevada Homeschool Network is hosting a book fair celebration and fundraiser, Friday, April 3, 2009

Barnes and Noble

5555 South Virginia Street

Reno, NV

*Invite family, friends and homeschool supporters to acknowledge and honor Home Education Awareness Week.

*Local author book reading and signing

*Top gun pilot presentation and autographed photos

*Local politicians meet and greet

*Barnes and Noble presentation on benefits to home educators

Print out the voucher ! Forward it to friends and family! Print copies to distribute at work locations! Place a stack at your local library!

Let’s work together to promote Home Education Awareness Week in Nevada AND Support the fundraiser for Nevada Homeschool Network.

2009 – Las Vegas Event

Nevada Homeschool Network is hosting a Community Event Thurs April 2, 2009. Hours 11-3. Location Lone Mountain Park, 4445 N. Jenson (Craig/Jenson) very close to the 215/Lone Mountain exit or the 95/Craig exit.

The event will be in the Southern Parking area and pavillion/grassy area. Non event vehicles would be asked to park in the Northern parking lot, to leave room for special vehicles (ambulances, firetrucks, etc)

Google Earth Map of Park

There is no fee to attend.

We would love each family to bring a potluck item to share; drinks, chips, main dishes, desserts, etc, but please come even if you can’t bring an item to share!

We will have all sorts of neat community resources on hand including (but not limited to):

LV Mounted Police

Fire Safety- Smokehouse

Cap’n Dave Eisenstein and his fossils

Nevada Amateur Radio Club

Go For It USA Gymnastics

Featured Speakers (At the Gazebo):

12 Noon: Dr. Joe Heck, former State Senator, will be briefly speaking and available to meet with families. Dr. Heck has been a staunch supporter of homeschooling and has been instrumental in helping pass many of the bills Nevada Homeschool Network has worked on.

1pm: North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montandon will give a short speech and be available for meeting families. Mr. Montandon and his wife are a homeschooling family!

2pm: Senator Ensign’s Representative will relay his message of support to homeschoolers!

We are truly blessed in this state to have such supporters of homeschooling looking at high-level government seats!

Media Coverage of the event is expected! We want to showcase homeschooling and the proclamation the Governor signed recognizing Home Education Awareness Week.

Please come out and have a lovely day at the park with us!

Donations to Nevada Homeschool Network may be made via paypal or via mail:

Nevada Homeschool Network

PO Box 1212

Carson City, Nevada 89702

Upon scrutinizing Mineral County’s policies a little further, some very alarming things came to light. We have been in touch with Mineral County’s Superintendent and have sent him a copy of the below points, that are in violation of NV state law. We’ll keep you updated on the district’s willingness to adhere to law!!

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Dear Dr. Kirk

This is a recap of our phone conversation, and an itemized listing of the areas where Mineral County appears to be in non-compliance with the homeschooling laws of NV.

1. School Board no longer has any approval process

NRS 392.700 #3

The purpose of the notice of intent to homeschool is to inform the school district in which the child resides that the child is exempt from the requirement of compulsory attendance.

Dr. Rheault’s Memo to the districts makes this very clear;

Page 1. #1 Compulsory attendance of a child in a public school must be excused if the parent chooses to provide education to the child and files a notice of intent to homeschool with the Superintendent of Schools of the school district where the child lives. SB404 no longer requires satisfactory written evidence that the child is receiving equivalent instruction be presented to the board of trustees of a local school district. Rather, requirements for information contained in the notice are now established in law and need only by acknowledged by the Superintendent of Schools where the notice is filed.

SB404 Sec 7 (1b), Sec 5(7)

This practice needs to stop immediately

2. Listing the student’s names in the Agenda’s runs afoul of 392.700 #5(f)

f) An optional statement that the parent may sign which provides:

I expressly prohibit the release of any information contained in this document, including, without limitation, directory information as defined in 20 U.S.C. 1232g(a)(5)(A), without my prior written consent.(Memo page 2, #10)

And certainly of

392.700 #8 pertains to who and how the superintendent may release a homeschooler’s records or information. (Memo page 2, #9)

And worse yet

392.700 #10

A school or organization shall not discriminate in any manner against a child who is or was homeschooled. (page 3, #12)

So, unless the school board does the same thing with children who are exempt from public school to go to a private school, this “special” treatment of homeschoolers is discrimination.

3. We understand you may have a desire to help all educators, even homeschoolers. Clark County has taken the position that helping homeschoolers is neither in the law, nor in their scope of purposes. We’d agree. That’s best left to homeschool groups.

PLEASE give interested homeschoolers the contact information for Nevada Homeschool Network and Dr. Orval Nutting.

4. That brings us to, what IS the districts responsibility?

Again, back to Dr. Rheault’s memo

1)To enforce Compulsory Ed law

2)For the superintendent to accept the Notification of intent (page 1, #1)

3)To make only the Dept of Ed Notice of Intent Form available (page 1, #4)

4)To NOT require or request any additional information or assurances from the parent who files. (page 1 #4)

5)To accept that form or any other Notice of Intent form that meets the requirements of Sec 5 (5) (Today this is 392.700 #5)

6)To provide a “written acknowledgement which clearly indicates that the parent has provided the notification required by law and that the child is being homeschooled.” (page 2, #8)

7)To retain a physical or electronic copy of the acknowledgement for not less than 15 years (page 2, #8)

8)To provide information on their website, in a timely manner, regarding the High School Proficiency Exam and all college entrance exams such as the S.A.T, the A.C.T. and the PSAT/NMSQT, including registration dates and examination dates. (page 2, # 13)

9)To Conduct Child Find- identify children with special needs, as required by Federal law

That’s it. No approval process. Not of the form, not of the educational plan. Only a court of law can offer an opinion on the contents of the educational plan, according to NRS 392.700 #12

5. Website…Once Mineral County School District is clear on the homeschooling law, the website then needs to also offer the correct information. It appears that your district has 3 websites, so all should be correct.

 

Gohawthornes which is seems to be under construction

Mineralcountyschools.org No homeschooling info and bad links

Mineral.k12.nv which is linked to Nevada Dept of Ed, has illegal homeschooling information , bad links and no testing information for homeschoolers as required by law

From this website: in bold italics are the areas of concern

Home Schooling

Step 1 Review the following website http://www.doe.nv.gov/schools/homeschooling.html

Step 2 Contact the Superintendent (Required)

Step 3 Complete Home School Forms

Step 2 is inaccurate. The phrase “required to contact” the supt., is very misleading. Rather the parents submit the NOI to the super, and by law it need not even be in person. No other “contact” is necessary.

PAGE 1:

HOME SCHOOL CHOICE

As part of Nevada’s Education choice, there are very specific requirements for individuals who will opt for home schooling their children. Nevada law (NRS 392.070) provides for a waiver of the compulsory attendance laws and procedures for parents/guardians to follow in pursuing the waiver. For background, resources, and contacts, please see the information below.

Mineral County Requires the following steps for the process to be complete prior to beginning the home school process:

1.A parent and or guardian must complete the required forms to begin participation in home schooling.

2.The parent and or guardian making the request must meet with the principal of the school of enrollment prior to board approval.

3.The Mineral County School Board will review the request and take the appropriate action.

4.The parent and or guardian will be notified of the board’s decision in writing within 5 days of the board meeting.

5.The parent and or guardian, upon board approval may check the student out of school.

Every “requirement” listed above is an egregious misrepresentation of NRS 392.070 and 392.700 and does not conform with Nevada law.

None of the “background or resource” links provided (see below) to these documents work; rather, sends the reader to an error 404 page. If interested homeschoolers were able to read any of the documents listed they would see immediately that Mineral County’s “requirements” are not in compliance with the law.

2007-RHEAULT Letter for Homeschooling

2007 Homeschool Information – Table of Contents

2007 Homeschool Information

Notice of Intent to Homeschool

Notice if Intent of Homeschooled Child to Participate

If you need further information, contact: Orval K. Nutting, Ed.D.

Nevada Department of Education

1749 Moody St., Suite 40

Carson City, NV 89706-2543

ph: 775-687-9238

fax: 775-687-9113

email: onutting@doe.nv.gov

2007-DR. RHEAULT Letter for Homeschooling

6.Currently Nevada Homeschool Network has an Alert out on our statewide group and on our Nevada homeschool network website and has been in touch with Dr. Orval Nutting on this issue.

While Nevada Homeschool Network certainly holds no “authority” over Mineral County School District, we sincerely hope you will verify all of the above information and act accordingly. We will be doing our duty and looking out for all homeschoolers by following up on Mineral’s compliance.

Most sincerely,

Elissa Wahl

Nevada Homeschool Network

cc: Dr. Orval Nutting, NV Dept of Ed

Dr. Keith Rheault, Superintendent of Public Instruction, NV

For a change we’d like to focus the light on ourselves; momentarily, we promise! We Nevada Homeschool Network officers have 45 years combined homeschool leadership experience, and who knows how many child-years of homeschool teaching! But we know that it is what you do that makes homeschooling successful, not leadership in Carson City or in Washington DC.

Like any other special interest in today’s world, the right to homeschool and even the right to raise your own children without governmental interference cannot be taken for granted. Enter NHN: volunteer parents with a common vision for homeschool freedom.

NHN wants to pass the baton of leadership cleanly to the future, and needs volunteer dads and moms from across the state to come aboard as NHN officers. This is no small calling! Dads especially are needed.

Our board is self-perpetuating, which means that officers are not elected by membership. When the need is present and we feel that a certain person would be a good fit, we invite him or her to be an officer. While NHN members don’t need to meet any criteria, officers do. We have a statement of faith and a set of bylaws that we must agree to. The occasional intensity of the work that we do, which many would claim is not just political or physical but spiritual also, requires a like-mindedness amongst the NHN Officers to be as free as possible from the religious divisiveness that has befallen so many other homeschool organizations.

We all have other responsibilities (homeschooling, day jobs, families, cars and homes, businesses, you-name-it), and we just make homeschooling one more priority. Experience is nice, but we don’t expect any. We train as we go! And thanks to the internet, where you live is not a problem; we need your voice as well.

With the 2009 Nevada Legislature in session, now is a great time for “new blood” to join our effort and learn the ropes! Don’t worry, apprentice NHN officers aren’t thrown alone to the wolves. We do things together!

So please respond by email to any of us if you are interested.

Nevada Homeschool Network Officers