• Home
• Basic Info
• VA Law
• Testing
• Support
• Resources
• Events
• Convention
• Store

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

.... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... .....
NEW DEVELOPMENT: 
VIRGINIA BEACH WILLING TO DISCUSS PSAT AND AP TESTS FOR HOMESCHOOLERS

Daniel Edwards, chairman of the Virginia Beach School Board, has
indicated he is willing to discuss Saturday administration of the PSAT
for homeschoolers. In a late afternoon phone conversation with
Virginia HSLDA attorney, Scott Woodruff, Mr. Daniels offered
homeschoolers an invitation to discuss the possibility of resolving
this issue. 

Mr. Daniel’s major concern is that Virginia Beach only offers the PSAT
in the middle of a school day, and he feels it would be problematic
having non-students come into a school while it is in session. The
PSAT is offered two times this year: Wednesday, October 12 and
Saturday, October 15. Virginia Beach had planned to offer the test
only on Wednesday, but a Saturday administration would avoid the
problem of having homeschool students at a public high school during
the day. He suggested that homeschoolers should be willing to divide
the cost of obtaining a proctor for the test. 

NEW ACTION
Considering the good faith response of Mr. Edwards, HEAV suggests
homeschoolers wait to address this issue before the school board. HEAV
representative Yvonne Bunn will attend the school board meeting to
observe the proceedings. Yvonne is listed on the agenda, so she will be
prepared to address the issue, if necessary. Scott Woodruff expects to
have communication with Mr. Edwards again later this week. We are
hopeful for a positive outcome, and will send another update after the
meeting.

BACKGROUND
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.

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.”

Virginia Beach took the position that they were only required to notify
homeschoolers concerning the location of the tests, but were not
required to make the tests available to homeschoolers.

HEAV ACTION
HEAV contacted Denise White, Virginia Beach Coordinator of the Office
of Student Services and Daniel Keever, Executive Assistant
Superintendent of Virginia Beach Schools. HEAV, HSLDA, and
VaHomeschoolers 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. Early last week HEAV wrote a formal letter to Virginia
Beach School Board Chairman Daniel Edwards, addressing our concerns.