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Home Educators Association of Virginia
HEAV--Serving the homeschoolers of Virginia through information,
legislation, and resources!

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VIRGINIA BEACH DENIES PSAT AND AP TESTS TO HOMESCHOOLERS

Even with a recent change in the law, Virginia Beach has refused to
allow a homeschooled student to take the PSAT test offered at a local
high school. HEAV has requested the Virginia Beach School Board comply
with the new law. 

PSAT/NMSQT stands for Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship
Qualifying Test. The PSAT provides firsthand practice for the SAT
Reasoning Test™ and gives students a chance to enter National Merit
Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) scholarship programs. The PSAT is
offered to students in their junior year and is used to enter the
competition for college scholarships. The test is given once a year
and is co-sponsored by the College Board at a limited number of
facilities across the nation.

NEW LAW ALLOWS PSAT/AP TESTING
A law addressing this issue, §22.1-254.1 (F), went into effect July 1
of this year. It states, “School boards shall implement a plan to
notify students receiving home instruction pursuant to this section
and their parents of the availability of Advanced Placement (AP) and
Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) examinations and the
availability of financial assistance to low-income and needy students
to take these examinations.”

HEAV ACTION
HEAV representative Yvonne Bunn contacted Denise White, Virginia Beach
Coordinator of the Office of Student Services, who refused to discuss
their policy, but instead referred her to Daniel Keever, Executive
Assistant Superintendent. According to Mr. Keever, the school
division’s only responsibility is to notify homeschooling parents of
the “location” of the PSAT and AP tests. He stated it is Virginia
Beach’s policy not to allow homeschoolers to take the PSAT or AP test
based on School Board policy 5-10 that states, “Students enrolled in
private or parochial schools and home school students shall not be
permitted to enroll in this school division on a part-time basis or
participate in academic or extracurricular activities, except as
required by law.”

Yvonne pointed out that homeschoolers are not requesting to enroll on a
part-time basis or to participate in academic or extracurricular
activities. They are requesting to take the PSAT and AP tests, which
extracurricular activities. We know it was the intent of the
legislature that notification of “availability” meant more than
notification of location. Why would the legislature pass a law that
required school boards to notify homeschoolers about the location of
tests they would not be allowed to take? The definition of
“availability” means capable of being used or accessible. Therefore,
school boards must implement a plan to notify homeschool students and
parents of the accessibility of AP and PSAT tests.

Yvonne also contacted Anne Wescott, Assistant Superintendent, Division
of Policy and Communications at the Department of Education. Ms.
Wescott agreed with our position and called Virginia Beach officials.
She indicated there was little more she could do because of the
autonomy of local school boards. Yvonne has written a letter to
Virginia Beach School Board Chairman Daniel Edwards, addressing our
concerns. HEAV is also working in conjunction with HSLDA and
VaHomeschoolers.

YOUR SUPPORT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE
PSAT/AP testing will be discussed during the Virginia Beach School
Board meeting, this Tuesday, October 4, at 6:00 p.m. The school board
meeting will be held at 2512 George Mason Drive off Princess Anne
Road. HEAV is scheduled to address the school board. If you are a
resident of Virginia Beach, please attend this meeting to show your
support for the home educated, high-school students in Virginia Beach.
You may sign up to speak with the Clerk of the Board by 
calling 263-1016 by 3:00 p.m. on October 4 (the day of the meeting). 

We hope to see you there!