Iowa City considers home-school rules

Home-schooled children who want an Iowa City school district diploma would have to attend a district school full time their junior and senior years under a proposal before the school board.

The new policy is intended to stop the “growing problem” of home-schooled students enrolling in the district during the final trimester of their senior years in order to get a district diploma, Superintendent Lane Plugge said.

Graduating from the school district should mean a student has gone through the district's educational program, he said.

“We believe to get a diploma from an Iowa City high school, you need at least two years,” Plugge said.

Figures on how many home-schooled students have enrolled in the district late in their high school careers were not available Friday. The district has 63 students in its home school assistance program this year, Associate Superintendent Jim Behle said.

The school board is to hold a first reading on the proposal Tuesday.

The Marion Independent School District, which has about 770 students in its home school assistance program this year, has a similar policy. To get a district diploma, students must attend Marion High School at least three years, two of which, including the senior year, must be full time, said program Director Tom Ertz said.

Cedar Rapids, with about 290 home-schooled students this year, and Linn-Mar, about 100 students, do not have such policies, officials said.

Cedar Rapids and Marion offer home-school diplomas. Sandy Stephen, executive administrator of secondary education for Cedar Rapids, said that as a result, the school district has not seen home-schooled students enrolling in high school just to graduate.

The Iowa City school district does not have a home-school diploma, Behle said.

Students who transfer from accredited public and private schools after their junior years could still receive a diploma, Plugge said.