The Home Education Advisory Council (HEAC) is intended to support and advise the NH Department of Education regarding their work with the home education community and be a bridge to education agencies in the public-school arena. It is the only public board that represents the home-education community at the state level.
Members typically meet every-other month of the traditional school year to discuss relevant issues and happenings that impact the independent, unfunded, RSA 193-A home ed community.
Videos are not part of the official public record; GSHE publishes them on our YouTube channel to benefit the home ed community. They are unedited, published without alternations or modifications.
Several new members are appointed; see the updated list for their contact information. The public is welcome to attend in person at the DOE’s Concord office or via Zoom. Details are available at the bottom of this article.
September 20, 2024
Highlights:
- Members of the home ed community asked about the ongoing confusion between home ed (RSA 193-A) and the Education Freedom Account (EFA) (RSA 194-F) programs and registration process. There were also questions about how public schools determine fees for EFA student participation. Both questions were referred to Brian Voelk, the NH DOE’s person responsible for handling the EFA.
- Home education students can receive the Education Tax Credit (ETC) scholarship, if they are eligible, without altering their enrollment status.
- Home ed students who transfer in to a public school have their credits accepted or rejected by the receiving school principal. There is a process to dispute the decision through the local school board.
- If a student is enrolled in an accredited, full-time, online high school, the student’s enrollment status is dependent on whether or not that school is approved by the state education agency in which it exists. If it is approved by the state agency, then is a non-public school or online charter, depending on that school’s status within that state.
- Discussion about switching from home education (RSA 193-A) to the EFA (RSA 194-F) ensued about the word “terminating.” Some people find the word “terminate” to be too harsh and divisive although that is the word used in both statutes. The council discussed asking Brian Voelk to attend a future HEAC meeting.
- Ongoing confusion between the two different educational pathways – home ed and EFA — persists and members requested that the Children’s Scholarship Fund (CSF), the managing organization for the EFA, improve information on their website to help families understand more clearly.
All of this is consistent with the information on the GSHE website. Contact us at info@GraniteStateHomeEducators.org if you have any questions or wish to discuss any of these issues.
Next Meetings
HEAC meets at the NH Department of Education’s office at 25 Hall Street in Concord. They meet on the third Friday of alternating months starting at 2:30pm, unless announced otherwise. The public may attend in-person or via Zoom. Zoom meeting information is available here. The scheduled 2024-25 meeting dates are as follows.
CANCELED, NEW DATE TBA Friday, November 15, 2024
Friday, January 25, 2025
The council is considering an alteration to the meeting schedule in order to avoid religious holidays and one member reported an ongoing schedule conflict. The council will discuss a revision to the calendar at their November meeting
Links to meeting minutes and members’ contact information are available on the NH DOE’s HEAC page.
Read More About HEAC
