All Private Schools Protected From Mandatory Inspections
A Very Encouraging Victory!
Joint Legislative Newsflash – November 8, 2017
From: Roy Hanson and Nathan Pierce – Family Protection Ministries and Mike Smith – HSLDA
Early versions of AB 10 would have required agents of the California Department of Education (CDE) to inspect all bathrooms in homes where private homeschooling takes place to ensure that all female students have access to state mandated feminine hygiene products. This would have set a dangerous precedent by requiring families to be questioned and observed, through the inspection process, inside the constitutionally protected privacy of their homes. During these inspections, agents of the CDE would have been required to walk through the homes of every private homeschooling family in California. This would open the opportunity for making observations and developing concerns unrelated to the immediate requirements of this bill. These CDE agents could then report their concerns, resulting from these observations, to their supervisors and to their County Offices of Education. Regulations governing operating procedures, regulatory standards, and further details would have inevitably followed this bill.
From AB 10 – 12/5/16
“The department [CA Dept. of Education] …shall ensure that female pupils have direct access to feminine hygiene products in school bathrooms.”
These inspections would be a clear violation of our right to privacy that is protected by the 4th Amendment to the US Constitution. Our founders fought dearly to protect this right and it is an essential pillar upon which our nation was founded.
We worked together with HSLDA on AB 10 to identify all of the problematic language and strategized to eliminate the dangers. We always consult each other before taking a position on any bill that would affect private homeschooling. Nathan Pierce, of Family Protection Ministries, had meetings behind the scenes with the author’s staff and with other legislative staff on AB 10. In these meetings, Nathan’s message was that applying AB 10 to private homeschool families and their homes would be inappropriate and invasive.
Nathan also testified in committee about our concerns with AB 10 on your behalf. We continued to strategically pursue a change to AB 10 until the author and Legislature agreed with our request by eliminating the requirement for private schools to comply with AB 10.
We are pleased to report that AB 10 was amended before being signed into law and will have no impact on any private schools including home-based private schools! The revised requirements of AB 10 will only apply to public schools. (In California the term “homeschool” is not a legally recognized term. Private homeschooling in California functions under the private school law as it does in 15 other states. In California, private homeschoolers are legally considered a private school that is based in a private home.)
AB 10 is another example of one of the kinds of opportunities that God provides to us to work quietly behind the scenes to achieve positive results without having to ask for phone calls or letters.
It is with gratitude to God and for your prayers and financial support that we share this important victory with you. Without your support, we would not be able to advocate on your behalf on bills like AB 10.
Check out HSLDA’s Article: “The Unconstitutionality of Home Visits by School Officials” for a detailed legal analysis.
Lincoln, CA 95648
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