What is the penalty in GA. for supposedly homeschooling a child but have not for 3 years ?

Question

I know a woman here in GA. that took her child out of school 3 years ago to be homeschooled but has NEVER had him schooled, the boy is about to be 16 which is the legal age to quit school which was their goal when she took him out because apparently the school system don't check for 3 years and they thought they would be safe by then. Now the boy is a menace and on drugs and does nothing but get high and play his video games and I feel something should be done but have stayed out of it from fear of vandalism and violence directed towards me if it were ever found out that I had made the call. I tried to find what would happen if they were found out but I had no luck, can anyone tell me ?

Answer 1

I would stay out of it.... There are a lot of kids in his same situation that are in school, are you going to turn those parents in as well?

Answer 2

If the parent in question truly behaved as you are suggesting in  your story, then she is receiving her own just desserts.  What worse could there be than a child who is a delinquent and not prepared to live a successful life?  The family is already dealing with the consequences of their actions.  I would stay out of it and not wish further harm on them.

Answer 3

Him and his family will pay for it down the road. Don't put yourself in the middle of it.

If he is doing something to you and/or your property while not "schooling" call the cops and they will find out that he is not being "schooled".

Answer 4

This sounds like a confusing situation. I'd stay out of it, his life was a choice. Just because he's out of school doesn't mean he has to become a Drugi. Possibly, you could try and talk to the parent of the house. but I'd make sure the parent is sober and not high =/ Good Luck, and please be careful and stay safe!

Answer 5

If he's about to be 16, there's probably nothing they *will* do, even if you "turn them in" to the "authorities".  By the time they get to it, he'll already be 16 and old enough to be a drop out.

It really is *their* problem and not yours.  If you *really* want to help - then offer to help teach the kid.

Lastly, how do you know he's NEVER been "schooled".  If he's homeschooled, he's not "schooled" - he's educated at home.  There is a huge difference.  Who's to say if he'd stayed in the public school he wouldn't still be as messed up as he is now???

I have a hard time believing that the "school system" (who probably has NO oversight of HS'ers anyway) would wait for three years to check into truants.  If she pulled him out to HS him, that was the last they cared about it.

Here are the HS'ing laws in GA, btw:

http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?St...

The only thing the regs say about "3 years" is that every three years, after 3rd grade, the child has to have a standardized test.

If she followed all the other regs like registering with the superintendent's office yearly and keeping any records, then even if you do say something, she's going to come out "clean".  Has she admitted to you she hasn't followed the GA rules?

Answer 6

Many 16 year old kids fall into bad crowds, experiment with drugs, break the law. It is a horrible situation to watch. However with that kind of behavior it won't be long until she has the cops knocking on her door.

You stated that she never had him schooled. How do you know? Have you watched their daily schedule? Have you seen if he has textbooks or worksheets? Has he never picked up a workbook.

It is easy to assume someone isn't doing something. It is hard to prove they are not doing something.

Each state has requirements about what they have to do in order to homeschool. I don't know the GA law but I can tell you that if she wasn't following it she'd be in trouble. For example here in FL we have to turn in annual evaluations. If we don't do it - we get in trouble. If we don't follow the rules we cannot homeschool. It is simple as that.

Answer 7

Prove it and she'll do jail time.

Can you prove this?

I know a guy who never got his kids to school on time. (He had several and was on his own. I felt for him.) He went to jail for truancy.

EDIT: How 'bout contributing to the delinquency of a minor? As another answer stated, the same thing happens to schooled kids. Please be sure to go after each and every one of them next.