Homeschool advocate urges restoring post-enrollment hearings as Senate weighs absenteeism bill; school counselors back model policy

A homeschool advocate and school counselors offered sharply different priorities to the Senate Education Committee considering H930, the state's chronic-absenteeism bill.

"Once the home study notice was given to the agency, the child would be continuously enrolled," said Ra Dunle of the Remote Home Education Network, urging lawmakers to restore statutory language authorizing "hearings after enrollment." Dunle, who said she has tracked homeschooling figures since 1981 and that the Agency of Education provided recent counts, told the committee the agency recently reported roughly 3,969 homeschooled students in 2024 and about 4,241 in 2025–26. She warned that requiring repeated reenrollment or seat-based attendance reports can create technical truancy findings for families who are teaching at home.

Dunle also argued that the bill's focus on "attendance" or "absenteeism" mischaracterizes the experience of many homeschoolers: "Every single homeschooling child wakes up in their home. They're never absent. They're always attending," she said, urging the committee to prioritize compliance tools that allow the agency to investigate evidence-based complaints rather than rely on paperwork.

"If you want real and full oversight then you need to put the hearings after enrollment back into the statute," Dunle told the committee, recounting an example in which a parent told the Department of Labor they had no assessment on file. She said the hearings mechanism would allow the agency to pursue substantiated concerns about whether a child is being educated.

School counselors who spoke to the committee said they support H930 but urged the Legislature to emphasize prevention, adequate resources and clear statewide guidance. "Absenteeism is often a symptom of deeper challenges: anxiety, depression, family instability, transportation barriers, housing insecurity, bullying," said Abby Allen, school counseling coordinator/director at the Central Vermont Career Center, who testified with two school counselors from Montpillar High School. Allen said counselors can identify root causes, provide early intervention and connect families to community services when given time and resources.

Allen supported the bill's model-policy approach and asked that the Vermont School Counselor Association be included in the agency's work on the model policy. She recommended the model clarify what constitutes an excused absence, ensure attendance data transfers with student records, and avoid punitive-only responses. Allen also proposed a requirement that at least 80% of school counselors' time be dedicated to direct student services to help prevent chronic absenteeism.

Committee members probed several tensions raised during testimony, including whether statutory language that finds a home study program "substantially failed to provide a student with a minimum course of study" would inappropriately place an onus on learning outcomes rather than compliance with reporting requirements. Dunle and senators cautioned against writing rules that punish the majority of law-abiding homeschool families for rare worst-case scenarios, while also acknowledging reports of neglect or abuse have prompted calls for stronger oversight.

The committee did not take formal action during the hearing. Members said they would review proposed language and return the witnesses for follow-up, and they emphasized options such as restoring hearings after enrollment or reframing section five to focus on statutory compliance rather than seat-based attendance.

Next steps: The committee will consider the competing requests for restoring hearings, revising attendance language and the counselors' resource proposals as it prepares bill language for further committee deliberation.