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District Bans Homeschooled Girl From Homecoming Dance
Michigan Capitol Confidential ^ | 10/9/2016 | Tom Gantert

Posted on 10/12/2016 11:45:47 AM PDT by MichCapCon

Wayne-Westland Community Schools has a policy that states that homeschooled students who want to attend a dance such as Homecoming would have to come from an “accredited” homeschool. That would effectively ban homeschoolers from attending dances held by the district since homeschoolers have no reason to be accredited and the state doesn’t require it.

Karen Braun, a nationally recognized homeschooling activist in Michigan, said the school district is putting an unfair and unnecessary burden upon homeschoolers. Braun said parents contacted her and said their daughter, a homeschooling student, was invited to the upcoming Homecoming dance within the Wayne-Westland district. The student, though, was told she could not attend because she was not from an accredited homeschool. Braun posted the news on her Facebook wall. Braun didn’t have permission to release the name of the student, so she left out the student's name. The parent provided a copy of a form from the school.

The form, which the school sent to parents, stated that guests had to bring a current picture ID to be admitted to the dance.

It also stated, "Guests from online schools or guests who are homeschooled will need to submit a letter of good standing on school letterhead, including contact information, from a school official/administrator from an accredited program of study."

There are two accreditation programs in the state, but participation is voluntary.

“The question of bringing guests to the dance comes up every year,” said Wayne-Westland Community Schools spokeswoman Jenny Johnson in an email. “We refer students to the dance contract for the guidelines. Those guidelines do not preclude homeschooled students from attending our dances as a guest. Our student’s safety and welfare is always a primary concern to us. Our practice is to validate who is coming through our doors to ensure the safety of all students.”

According to the Michigan Department of Education, any reporting to the state by the homeschool parent is voluntary, as is accreditation. The state only requires reporting for homeschool students if the student is requesting special education services from the local public school or intermediate school district. Nonpublic schools are not required to be accredited.

Braun called the district's policy "absurd."

“In an era where a boy can self-identify as a girl and get access to anything the school has to offer, we are going to limit a homeschooler on the basis of accreditation to spend an evening with a friend,” she said.

Ben DeGrow, the director of education policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, said in the eyes of Michigan law, homeschools function as private schools.

“Private schools don’t have to jump through the hoops of accreditation, and it makes no sense for families educating their kids at home to do so,” DeGrow said in an email. “By saying they only want ‘accredited’ homeschool students at their social functions, the district essentially is saying no homeschoolers whatsoever. Do they have the same rule prohibiting private school kids from attending, too?”


TOPICS: Education
KEYWORDS: homecoming; homeschool; michigan; school; wayne; westland; zebras
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1 posted on 10/12/2016 11:45:47 AM PDT by MichCapCon
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To: MichCapCon
Why send a homeschool kid into the heart of darkness of a public school dance?

What are her parents thinking?

2 posted on 10/12/2016 11:49:41 AM PDT by donna (No one should be allowed to become a citizen or even a resident if they support Sharia Law.)
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To: MichCapCon

She’s better off not going.


3 posted on 10/12/2016 11:51:45 AM PDT by ArcadeQuarters ("Immigration Reform" is ballot stuffing)
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To: donna
Why send a homeschool kid into the heart of darkness of a public school dance?

She probably has friends who attend the school and would like to socialize with them there.

4 posted on 10/12/2016 11:53:58 AM PDT by 1raider1
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To: donna
Why send a homeschool kid into the heart of darkness of a public school dance?

She probably has friends who attend the school and would like to socialize with them there.

5 posted on 10/12/2016 11:54:28 AM PDT by 1raider1
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To: donna
Why send a homeschool kid into the heart of darkness of a public school dance?

She probably has friends who attend the school and would like to socialize with them there.

6 posted on 10/12/2016 11:56:08 AM PDT by 1raider1
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To: donna

Sounds like she was asked as someone’s date.


7 posted on 10/12/2016 11:59:00 AM PDT by sharkhawk (Here come the Hawks, the mighty Black Hawks)
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To: MichCapCon

I bet if some confused homo wanted to bring a 35 year old “date” to the dance, they would allow it.


8 posted on 10/12/2016 12:00:37 PM PDT by sharkhawk (Here come the Hawks, the mighty Black Hawks)
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To: MichCapCon

There is nothing good or beneficial at a school dance. Her denial of entry is a blessing.


9 posted on 10/12/2016 12:00:59 PM PDT by lurk (TEat)
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To: MichCapCon

Homeschooled students should make their own arrangements/events for things like this. If there are no other homeschooled students in the area, a private party should be set up where the girl can invite her boyfriend & other friends to celebrate.

Though I think this is still jackassery on the school district’s part, it’s not as if they’re guarding Area 51.
By the way, this is the same district I posted about a week or so back, when it suspended a student for taking a picture of the dirty water coming from school bathroom sinks.
http://nbc4i.com/2016/09/26/student-suspended-for-taking-photo-of-discolored-school-water


10 posted on 10/12/2016 12:02:24 PM PDT by LouieFisk
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To: MichCapCon

F off the Homecoming Dance and other stupid social norms meant to control and conform.

The kid has what they cannot give, a real valuable education.

Democrats hurt children. It is in their blood.


11 posted on 10/12/2016 12:04:16 PM PDT by TheNext (Hillary Hurts Children & Women)
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To: MichCapCon

I wasn’t allowed to go to any dance, ever, and I survived. She’ll live.


12 posted on 10/12/2016 12:05:52 PM PDT by MayflowerMadam
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To: MichCapCon

Much ado about nothing. Most schools don’t allow anyone but their own registered students to attend. That, imo, is as it should be.


13 posted on 10/12/2016 12:10:35 PM PDT by bgill (From the CDC site, "We don't know how people are infected with Ebola")
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To: MichCapCon

Last Saturday there was a homecoming dance for the homeschooled high-schoolers in the Tampa ‘burbs, and from what I can see, and have heard from a student who went there, it was just as much as any public or private school homecoming dance.


14 posted on 10/12/2016 12:19:18 PM PDT by chajin ("There is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12)
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To: MichCapCon

Liberals whine that home-schooled children “can’t socialize like their peers”

Their Solution: Keeping home-schooled children away from their Peers....


15 posted on 10/12/2016 12:24:13 PM PDT by GraceG (Only a fool works hard in an environment where hard work is not appreciated...)
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To: MichCapCon

Why do not the network of homeschoolers simply hold their own homecoming somewhere? Why do they even want to be at a public school function?

Technically they are not part of the school, so it isn’t really their homecoming. If they just want a party then get the other homeschool kids together for a nice night out dressed up somewhere.

Good grief. I wouldnt let my kid there. They all could organize a much better homecoming on their own with other homeschooling families.


16 posted on 10/12/2016 12:33:13 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: MichCapCon

I’ve never understood home school parents who refuse to send their kids to government schools but then pitch a fit when those same schools deny them the ability to go to school dances. Or play on the sports teams. Or engage in extracurricular activities. Or take AP classes. Or...


17 posted on 10/12/2016 12:55:08 PM PDT by gdani
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To: MichCapCon

In Florida, the schools cannot deny homeschoolers access to extra curricular activities.

Homeschoolers pay just as much in taxes as those attending public schools.


18 posted on 10/12/2016 1:07:20 PM PDT by yuleeyahoo (Those are my principles, and if you do not like them...well I have others. - Groucho Marx)
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To: MichCapCon

It is better for homeschoolers to have NO dealings with the public schools. If they need a prom then the homeschoolers in an area should organize their own separate prom. That way the parents can control their own event.


19 posted on 10/12/2016 1:27:26 PM PDT by arthurus (Hillary's campaign is getting shaky)
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To: LouieFisk

“Homeschooled students should make their own arrangements/events for things like this”

Many do. There was an article... oh about 12 years back, about a ‘homeschool prom’ in Arizona.

That was the thread where I met my wife. We both posted about how over rated socialization is.


20 posted on 10/12/2016 2:08:40 PM PDT by TalonDJ
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