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Home Educators Association of Virginia (HEAV)

To: Home Educators of Virginia
From: Joe Guarino, director of government affairs
Date: Monday, January 25, 2005

Legislative Update Correction
Oops! In our most recent Legislative Update, we misinterpreted SB 1290 (Sen. Hanger-R, Augusta) that proposes to change the compulsory school attendance law.

This bill would change the date for compulsory attendance to school from September 30 to July 31. Currently, compulsory school attendance is required for children who will have reached their fifth birthday on or before Sept 30 of any school year.

Historically, we have opposed any bill that would lower the age of compulsory attendance, however, Senator Hanger’s bill does not lower the age. Changing the compulsory age from September 30 to July 31 actually increases the age. With this new legislation, children whose birthdays fall between July 31 and September 30 would not be required to attend school. It increases the age for compulsory school attendance by two months.

Yesterday, HEAV lobbyist Joe Guarino met with Senator Hanger to discuss the genesis of the bill. Senator Hanger said many people are confused by this bill. As it turns out, several of his family members teach kindergarten and have experienced difficulties working with very young, immature children. They told him they wanted “all five-year-olds, not babies” in their classrooms. Therefore, Senator Hanger introduced this legislation to solve the problem of immature children being required to attend school.

HEAV will support this bill.

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HEAV—Serving the homeschoolers of Virginia through information, legislation, and resources since 1983! Be sure to sign up to receive the FREE Virginia Home Educator magazine at http://www.heav.org.

HEAV (Home Educators Association of Virginia)
2248-G Dabney Road
Richmond, VA 23230

Phone: 804-278-9200
Fax: 804-278-9202
Website: http://www.heav.org
E-mail: info@heav.org; for legislative matters, legislative@heav.org