After strong public pushback, committee withdraws outreach motion and hears concerns about proposed homeschool policy

A motion by Committee member Mr. Bahu on June 17 to direct district departments to call homeschool families and promote Lowell Public Schools was withdrawn after a series of public comments and legal concerns raised by homeschool parents and committee members.

The motion (7.2) proposed a summer outreach effort to ask homeschool caretakers about their programs and to inform them of district supports. Several registered speakers who identified themselves as homeschool parents—Elizabeth Tart, Sean Cooper, Diana Kapaldo, Erin Prada, Shayla Gavara and others—told the committee the outreach would be intrusive, redundant with existing processes, and a poor use of limited central office staff time. ‘‘If we assume a 15‑minute phone call … that total estimated time would be 38 FTE hours,’’ said Erin Prada, while others noted roughly 151 homeschool families representing about 250 children in the city.

Speakers also cited Massachusetts jurisprudence, including references in the record to the Charles decision and Brunell, arguing that some elements of the proposed policy change (registration via the family resource center, required daily schedules, alignment to Massachusetts curriculum frameworks, and restricted application windows limited to August/September/November) would exceed what state law permits and would interfere with parents’ statutory and constitutional rights to direct their children’s education. Diana Kapaldo and others urged the committee to leave the current policy in place.

Committee members expressed mixed views. Some said the motion appeared intended as a marketing or outreach effort, while others acknowledged potential unintended consequences; several members said they lacked sufficient information about the administrative burden and legal implications. After hearing testimony, Mr. Bahu withdrew his motion and asked that proposed policy 10.4 be returned as a report of progress; the committee took 10.4 as a report of progress rather than adopting policy changes that night.

The record shows the committee is receptive to further study. Members asked staff to clarify the registration process, the legal basis for any new application windows or scheduling requirements, and the staff time required for outreach before pursuing further action.