Posted on 09/21/2026 7:49:46 AM PDT by DFG
A 22-year-old Nebraska volunteer firefighter wants to turn the work he already does into a career. One line on his diploma stopped him before he got the chance.
Andrew Coates volunteers with the Cedar Bluffs Fire Department and holds a state EMT license. He applied for a paid firefighter position with the City of Fremont, but WOWT reported that the city rejected his application because his high school diploma came from homeschooling.
The disagreement is not simply over whether Fremont can require an accredited education. It is also over what the city told applicants when Coates applied.
At the time, the job posting required graduation from high school. After Coates was rejected, the city changed the requirement to specify graduation from an accredited high school.
The Fine Print
Fremont Human Resources Director Jennifer McDuffee told WOWT that accreditation was already understood to be part of the original requirement.
"I would say it's a standard understanding that when someone requests a high school diploma or GED, they're asking for an accredited diploma," McDuffee said.
That distinction matters in Nebraska because homeschooling operates under a different legal structure from an accredited public or private school.
The Nebraska Department of Education calls homeschools "exempt schools." Families using them elect not to meet the state's approval or accreditation requirements, and the schools are considered non-approved and non-accredited private schools.
That does not mean Nebraska ignores completion of a homeschool education.
Under Nebraska Revised Statute 79-201, a child who completes the program of instruction offered by an exempt school is specifically recognized separately from a student who earns a high school diploma under the state's standard graduation requirements.
The statute concerns compulsory school attendance, not firefighter hiring requirements.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
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Changing requirements after you apply is open for legal challenge.
When in college, they kept changing the requirements to graduate. It was like trying to hit a moving target. I challenged it and won.
We have two homeschooled sons—a senior in high school and a senior in college. I’ll grant you that neither are math geniuses, but both are successful. Our oldest is about to graduate and begin a career as a health care professional and the other is exploring his options after high school. Both are mature, engage well with adults, work hard and are emotionally stable young men. I get that homeschool may not be for everyone, but in my experience, the graduates I’ve seen are highly prepared for life.
HR harridan Jennifer McDuffee ..
Sounds like we have the same family. One of my homeschooled kids is an astronautical engineer. Another is a book editor with a multi-million seller under her belt.
So you are okay with a local administrator interpreting the wording on the specific document used to advertise the position should be changed to what she THINKS it should read, after the announcement has been published.
What is her rationale for making this distinction? Where is the LEGAL requirement that the diploma be from an accreditted school defined? What law is she citing to make this determination?
I wonder how many of the firefighters, police, other city workers will be affected by her decree.
What the heck does where one completed their high school education have to do with the ability to be a firefighter. I smell the stink of the teacher’s union behind this. They likely pressured the city’s firefighter union to demand this from the city.
“...could rival high school senior levels!”
I understand your meaning, but, given today’s high school products, that may ge faint praise. Universities are complaining that incoming students can’t read, write, or calculate.
Keep up the good work.
My understanding is that under Nebraska law — like in most states — an applicant for a firefighter position must pass a civil service exam. Seems to me that scoring high on a civil service exam is a far better indicator of aptitude for the position than whether the applicant graduated from an accredited high school.
Take a GED test oh here’s my papers
Untold strike 3: White male.
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