Association of Florida Evaluators
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Florida law does not require any specific forms for evaluations, Letter of Intent, portfolios, transferring a home education program to a new Florida school district, etc. In fact Florida law specifically prohibits school districts from adding requirements to those listed in Florida law. Thus, there are no required forms.
The forms provided on this page are offered as a courtesy for those who want the simplicity of using a form, but who do not want to use forms provided by Florida school districts since district forms are often out-of-date, and include inaccurate or false information. Feel free to use these forms or to create your own that include the required information.
Notice of Intent (aka Letter of Intent)
*Per the Florida Dept of Education's parent FAQ on home education:
5. Does the school district have authority to exceed the Florida Statutes with local policies?
No, the school district must abide by the Florida Statutes regarding home education.
**Per the Florida Dept of Education's parent FAQ on home education:
(See 2A). Districts should
verify that the Letter of Intent was received. Parents should also retain a copy of the Letter of Intent and documentation that the Letter of Intent was received by the district.
Once the Letter of Intent is received by the district, you are officially home educating your child!
No other documentation is required. No proof of residency, no plan of instruction, no health forms, etc. can be required to start home educating.
If your child is enrolled in a school, withdraw the student from school. It doesn't matter whether the child is withdrawn first or the letter of intent is sent first. For students in Florida public schools, emailing the Letter of Intent to the district and cc'ing it to the school is a simple way to withdraw the student. The school cannot require specific forms once a Letter of Intent is submitted.
The Letter of Intent, aka Notice of Intent, is to be sent to the school district's Home Education Contact within 30 days of starting to homeschool (up to 30 days before, or on the day homeschooling starts, or up to 30 days after starting) to inform the district that the parent is taking control of a child's education. This is how homeschooling officially begins in Florida.
Florida law mentions sending the Notice of Intent to the school district superintendent, but every superintendent has named a home education contact to process paperwork for the county.
(Every Florida county is its own school district).
The parent is not asking for permission to homeschool, but is announcing that the parent has taken control of the child's education. The parent does not need to wait for district acknowledgement to begin homeschooling in Florida.
The parent can opt to send one letter of intent for all of the family's school-age children who are beginning to homeschool as long as each child's date of birth is clearly given with the child's name. (If a Letter of Intent was sent previously for some of the children, don't include them again when adding on another child.)
The district cannot refuse to accept the Letter of Intent unless
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the child is too young to be required to be in an official educational program (Children who will not yet be six years old by the end of the first half of the school year, aka by Feb. 1st of the school year, are not required to be in school. See F.S. 1003.21(1)(a)1) or
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is older than the maximum age allowed in school per district policy (typically over age 20) or
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the parent home educated the student previously but didn't send in a final evaluation; F.S. 1003.26(1)(f)1 prohibits the parent from home educating for 180 calendar days. (Sending in the required evaluation can fix this issue).
This sample Letter of Intent form may be printed out, filled out, and submitted to the district's Home Education contact. Or type your own version of it listing the information asked for on the sample form. Emailing a photo or scan of the completed form to the district's home education contact provides a great paper trail. Districts cannot add requirements to state law*--they cannot require documentation come to them via a specific form or delivery system; if the district responds by asking the Letter of Intent to be sent another way, you may thank them for acknowledging receipt and ignore the request (just be sure the letter included all required information including a signature).
The district is required to record the Letter of Intent and, per FL DOE policy, must confirm receipt in writing**.
If nothing in writing is received confirming receipt of this letter by the district within two weeks, we recommend either
1. re-sending the Letter of Intent to both the district's Home Education Contact and the Superintendent or
2. taking the Letter of Intent in person to the district headquarters and asking for a copy with their date-received stamp on it as confirmation of receipt.
(Confirmation might be a brief auto-response email, a hand-crafted email, a letter sent through the mail, or format as long as it is in writing.)
The date of your letter of intent sets the evaluation deadline for that child for years to come. Every year, the anniversary of that Letter of Intent is when an evaluation is due. (One exception: If you stop homeschooling an evaluation is due within 30 days of your Letter of Termination.)
Portfolio Forms
The parent shall determine the content of the portfolio....
From Florida Statute 1002.41(1)(e)
"A school district may not further regulate, exercise control over, or require documentation from parents of home education program students beyond the requirements of this section unless the regulation, control, or documentation is necessary for participation in a school district program."
Florida Statute 1002.41(13)
Nothing in Florida law requires the portfolio to be kept in a certain format. Some people keep records in a binder. Some keep a pile of workbooks. Some keep records on a social media page, or an app, or on a private website, or a database, or other digital source.
Nothing in Florida law requires the reading materials to have been read from start to finish in order to be listed. Public schools often use materials that aren't finished and nothing requires home education parents to do more than public schools do.
Florida law requires home education parents to keep a portfolio (aka records) documenting their children's learning. The portfolio is to include 3 elements:
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A log of educational activities that is made contemporaneously with the instruction and that designates by
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Title any reading materials used, and also
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Samples of any writings, worksheets, workbooks, or creative materials used or developed by the student.
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Florida law does not define nor describe details of what these records should include beyond the requirements just mentioned; Florida law gives the parents the right to decide the details of those records.
Florida law does not require homeschooling parents to use public school standards, methods, or materials. Parents can choose to use any materials and methods that they feel will help their children learn. They may use any level of materials that help their children learn.
As long as records of the learning are kept--they must be kept for two years--and educational progress is demonstrated in an evaluation once a calendar year (and within 30 days of ending the homeschooling--whether the student transfers to a school, moves out of Florida, graduates high school, etc.), parents can educate their children as they see fit.
Log of Educational Activities
Florida law doesn't specify what's to be kept in the log as long as it's kept around the time of the learning. The parent can choose the style, details, etc.
Some popular options include:
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Lesson plan book (doesn't have to mean lessons are recorded in advance)
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Table of contents pages marked to show what was done
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Planner
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Calendar with notes
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Score report (or other detailed report) from an educational program or app
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Syllabus or program for a class marked to show what was done
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Diary or blog
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Publisher's lesson plans marked to show what was done
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Spreadsheet
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Checklist showing subjects worked on
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Social Media page with regular entries about learning done
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Or any other method of regularly showing the learning that's going on
Titles of Reading Materials Used
Tip: Library receipts can be a simple way to keep titles if using library materials.
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Tip: Be sure to include at least two titles.
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Tip: Titles are required. Authors, page numbers, summaries, reports, etc. are not required but could be included if wanted.
Titles can be...
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Textbooks
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Workbooks
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Library books
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Magazines
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Articles
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Graphic novels
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Stories
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Poems
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Websites
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Apps
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Or anything else read by, to, or with the student
Florida law doesn't give a lot of details about the required portfolio (records) beyond the requirement for a Log of Educational Activities kept contemporaneously with instruction, titles of reading materials, and samples of writings, worksheets, workbooks, or creative materials used or developed by the student. This was intentional so that parents can keep records that work well for the methods and materials used for homeschooling.
Samples
Florida law requires samples of writings, worksheets, workbooks, or creative materials used or developed by the student
Suggestions:
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Keeping samples for each subject area covered is not required by law, but is a great goal
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Keeping samples from, at least, the beginning, middle, and end of the year helps make educational progress easy to see
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Quizzes and tests can be samples, but nothing in Florida law requires taking/keeping quizzes and tests (unless chosen as the evaluation)
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Screen shots can be saved as samples of learning done online
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Lessons done aloud might include scans or photos of some pages read as the samples (so student writing doesn't have to be on the samples)
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Student notes can be great samples
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Photos of projects or a few pages read can serve as samples
Transfer Form: For those moving to a new county
*Per the Florida Dept of Education's parent FAQ on home education 2(g):
If a parent is moving to another Florida school district and will continue homeschooling there, a Letter of Termination and final evaluation are NOT required. Instead, a transfer form can be used instead.
Parents should keep official records, such as the Home Education Transfer form, and the districts' acknowledgement of their receipt, for at least two years.
History: In October 2020, when a committee organized by Brenda Dickinson, including Cheryl Trzasko and Marie-Claire Moreau, were vetting changes the Florida Dept. of Education proposed to their Home Education FAQ, they discussed the fact that home education students who moved to another part of Florida were being required to terminate their home education program and submit an evaluation even though Florida law said that Home Education was not a district program and they weren't actually ending their homeschooling in Florida; the committee agreed that didn't fit the intent of Florida law; families with jobs that required multiple moves a year were especially impacted by this. The committee proposed that FL DOE policy should be changed to be in line with Florida law and so the Transfer Form became an option.
This sample Transfer Form may be printed out, filled out, and submitted, within 30 days after moving to a new district, to both the previous school district's home education contact and to the current one. Or type your own version of it listing the information asked for on the sample form. Or use the sample form on the Florida Dept. of Education's website.
Emailing a photo or scan of the completed form to both districts' home education contacts provides a great paper trail. Districts cannot add requirements to state law*--they cannot require documentation come to them via a specific form or delivery system). No evaluation is required just because of the move. The old district is supposed to confirm to the parent and the new district the next evaluation deadline (the anniversary of the original letter of intent) and the original evaluation deadline should remain in place.
Both districts should confirm receipt of the Transfer Form and that the old program is closed and the new one is open with the same evaluation deadline.
Unfortunately, some districts have not kept up with changes in Florida Dept. of Education policy, though most are now compliant with this new policy. If a district will not cooperate, consider directing them to the Florida Dept. of Education's Home Education Director for instruction on this policy.
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Notice of Termination (aka Letter of Termination)
*Per the Florida Dept of Education's parent FAQ on home education 2(g):
If a parent is moving to another Florida school district and will continue homeschooling there, a Letter of Termination and final evaluation are NOT required. Instead, a transfer form can be used instead.
Home Education Departments are only required to keep home education documents for four years. Smart parents will ask for a letter verifying the years a graduating student was in compliance with home education law in case needed in the future.
Parents have the right to prepare transcripts and/or report cards for their home educated children. The Uniform Transfer of Credit Rule requires Florida public school to accept credits based on official transcripts given by parents as long as the student passes the first grading period in the new school.
The Letter of Intent, aka Notice of Intent, is to be sent to the school district's Home Education Contact no more than 30 days after ending homeschooling to inform the district that the parent is no longer in control of a child's education. This is how homeschooling officially ends in Florida.
Florida law mentions sending the Notice of Intent to the school district superintendent, but every superintendent has named a home education contact to process paperwork for the county.
(Every Florida county is its own school district).
The home education program could end because the student is enrolled full-time in an official Florida school, college, university, or trade school, moves out of Florida, or is 16 years old or older and drops out of school. The Letter of Termination does not have to explain the reason for the termination.
This sample Letter of Termination form may be printed out, filled out, and submitted to the district's Home Education contact. Or type your own version of it listing the information asked for on the sample form. Emailing a photo or scan of the completed form to the district's home education contact provides a great paper trail. Districts cannot add requirements to state law*--they cannot require documentation come to them via a specific form or delivery system; if the district responds by asking the Letter of Termination to be sent another way, you may thank them for acknowledging receipt and ignore the request (just be sure the letter included all required information including a signature and an evaluation).
If nothing in writing is received confirming receipt of this letter by the district within two weeks, we recommend either
1. re-sending the Letter of Termination to both the district's Home Education Contact and the Superintendent or
2. taking the Letter of Termination in person to the district headquarters and asking for a copy with their date-received stamp on it as confirmation of receipt.
(Confirmation might be a brief auto-response email, a hand-crafted email, a letter sent through the mail, or format as long as it is in writing.)
A final evaluation has been required within 30 days of the Letter of Termination since 2018. This evaluation is no different from any other evaluation except that it is the final one required. The purpose of the final evaluation is to allow the district to know if the homeschooling ended successfully in case a college or employer or such wants information about the home education student's records.
Parents are not required to submit grade records to the district, but preparing a transcript and/or report card for the student can help the student in the future. Those with students graduating high school will also want to prepare an Affidavit of Completion and should read about other aspects of high school graduation.
Home education records should be kept for at least 2 years. We recommend keeping high school records much longer.
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Affidavit of Completion
"A signed affidavit of completion (notarized letter) submitted by the student’s parent attesting that the student has completed a home education program, pursuant to the requirements of
s.1002.41, F.S. is the legal document of completion. As stated in s.1007.263(2)(a), F.S. it is equivalent to
a high school diploma and is regularly accepted by state colleges and universities as proof of high school
completion. This statement can be included on a student’s academic transcript or parent-issued diploma."
Per the Florida Dept of Education's Home Education FAQ question 15
The Affidavit of Completion is a notarized form or letter in which a parent affirms that a student completed high school in a home education program. Florida law requires all colleges in the Florida college system to accept the Affidavit of Completion as the legal equivalent of a high school diploma. (See question 15 in the Florida Dept. of Education's official Home Education FAQ for parents.)
Many, if not all, Florida colleges have their own Affidavit of Completion forms, but parents can design their own. Many parents put the Affidvait of Completion on their student's official final high school transcript or on the reverse of the diploma that parents issue for their student, while other parents make the Affidavit of Completion a separate letter or form.
Florida law requires specific wording to be used on notarized documents. Check with a notary for the most up-to-date wording to be used.