ELANCO wants proof of homeschooler diplomas; advocates allege legal breach

Anyone hoping to homeschool their kids in Pennsylvania needs a high school diploma or equivalent certification. The Pennsylvania School Code lets parents or guardians attest to their schooling with a notarized affidavit or unsworn declaration — but Eastern Lancaster County School District (ELANCO) wants more. 

Attorneys for the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) are fighting ELANCO’s request that homeschooling moms and dads present their actual high school diplomas or proof thereof to district employees. Association attorneys said the district began making such demands this summer, first by calling homeschoolers on the phone and, starting last week, by knocking on their doors. ELANCO’s superintendent, by contrast, says the practice has been in effect for “several years.” 

By all accounts, the local school board did nothing to set these events in motion. And HSLDA suggests they are unique to ELANCO, which encompasses the boroughs of New Holland and Terre Hill as well as the townships of Brecknock, Caernarvon, Earl, and East Earl.

An August 8 letter to ELANCO Solicitor Jeffrey Litts from James Clymer, a Lancaster-based lawyer retained by the association, described the enforcement action as excessive and legally baseless. 

“Given that the home education statute describes this affidavit as evidence, unless a district has reason to believe that the home education program supervisor is not in fact a high school graduate or GED recipient, I do not see anything in the statute that would require a family to submit additional evidence to the district as to evidence of their high school diploma or GED,” Clymer wrote. Later in that message, he observed the school code recognizes “the notarized affidavit shall be satisfactory evidence” of homeschool supervisor qualifications. (Italics in Clymer’s letter.)

Clymer argued public school officials can only demand further evidence a homeschooling parent completed high school if “the district has reason to question the veracity of a family’s affidavit or unsworn declaration.” In such cases, he stated, all parties must follow a strict process to show whether the parent is qualified to teach their children at home. The district can’t adopt a “prophylactic policy” like ELANCO’s, he wrote, adding Pennsylvania lawmakers could have empowered school districts to demand homeschoolers’ diplomas but did not. 

“But the General Assembly did none of those things (even though it clearly knows how to write
statutes that would do all of those things),” the attorney wrote. “Instead, the General Assembly eschewed such a grant of authority.”

A letter dated July 14 from HSLDA Senior Counsel William Estrada to district administrators states ELANCO’s own policies, like state law, don’t force homeschooling parents to dish up their high school diplomas. 

“I request that you adhere to your board’s policies, so I do not need to notify your board that school district personnel are requesting information not in line with duly adopted board policies,” wrote Estrada. 

Estrada told The Independence that once his organization heard district staff were leaving voicemails for homeschooling parents, Clymer sent Litts another letter warning against additional demands for diplomas. Estrada said Clymer advised that ELANCO’s actions run counter to the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, prohibiting unreasonable searches and seizures. Estrada also said the district ignored Clymer’s admonitions and proceeded with home visits on Thursday, September 11.

“Families were startled, they were upset, a few of them were scared as well,” Estrada recalled, noting one family’s door was knocked at 8 a.m. “And it is not only completely unprecedented, it raises serious legal, rule of law, and constitutional issues…. What ELANCO is doing is unprecedented in Lancaster County, it’s unprecedented this year in Pennsylvania, and, frankly, it’s unprecedented in Pennsylvania homeschool history of the other 500 school districts.”

The school board did not ratify the diploma policy, and at least one member said he did not initially know it went into effect.

“I had zero idea about any of this occurring,” School Director Jonathan Dahl (R) wrote in response to an email inquiry. “This was not a board action. I am still tryin[g] to understand exactly what’s going on/required. I found out about this with everyone else.”

ELANCO Superintendent Michael Snopkowski told The Independence the high school graduation requirement is “not written [in state law] as a recommendation, but a condition.” Therefore, he said, the district administration can and should take proactive steps — independent of the school board — to verify that parents are meeting that condition. 

Estrada called Pennsylvania one of the most regulated states across the U.S. regarding homeschooling, positing that school districts needn’t compound existing state rules with their own demands. Onerous mandates he said homeschoolers face in other parts of the commonwealth that aren’t stipulated in state law include demands for sensitive medical information (e.g., proof of immunization or dental records) and proof of residency. 

Disputing that ELANCO seeks to overburden homeschoolers, Snopkowski averred that the district works well with the more than 600 students and over 350 families in its home education program. He said contacting families to view diplomas is a longstanding practice.

“This is the first such disagreement with parents related to these practices, which have been in place for several years,” he said.

Estrada disputed the superintendent’s timeline. 

“That is not correct,” he said. “I’ve been handling PA for HSLDA since 2023 and this is the first time since I’ve handled PA for HSLDA that any school district in PA has demanded diplomas. And it’s the first time any of our staff in the office can remember a district sending staff to visit homes over this issue.” 

Ethan Demme, chief executive officer of the education materials company Demme Learning and a local homeschool father, decried the district’s practices.

“It’s disappointing to see school officials take it upon themselves to create new rules for homeschool families to follow,” he said. “Pennsylvania is one of the most regulated states when it comes to homeschooling, and we should be making it easier for families to choose the options that best help their families, not harder. I hope this issue is resolved quickly and that other school districts will train their staff to follow the laws, not make up new ones.”

At this writing, The Independence has not received word that the district has yet attempted to cancel any family’s homeschooling pursuits outright as a result of its recent enforcement activities. 

Bradley Vasoli is the senior editor of The Independence.