Mississippi Homeschooling Laws

Before COVID-19 many families chose to homeschool their children; but with the occurrence of the pandemic, there has been an influx of parents considering homeschooling their children. Today we will look at the current laws, rules and regulations of homeschooling in Mississippi.

First thing to understand is that while the laws and rules governing homeschooling in Mississippi are relatively lax compared to other states; there are still laws. The Mississippi Compulsory School Attendance Law (MS Code § 37-13-91 (2019)) governs school attendance and non-attendance in Mississippi.

Paragraph 3 explains that a child between the age of 6 and 17 must be enrolled in and attend a public or legitimate nonpublic school except under certain circumstances; one of which is homeschooling.

The requirements to homeschool a child in Mississippi are as follows:

1. The legitimate home instruction program shall not operated or instituted for the purpose of avoiding or circumventing the compulsory attendance law; AND
2. A “Certificate of Enrollment” must be completed each year by September 15. And the certificate must cite the following information:
   • The name, address, telephone number and date of birth of each compulsory-school-age child;
   • The name, address and telephone number of the parent, guardian, or custodian of the child;
   • A simple description of the type of education the child receiving; and
   • The signature of the pare, guardian or custodian.

That’s it. That is all the current regulations you MUST follow to homeschool a child in Mississippi. There are no teacher qualifications, no state mandated subjects, no assessments required, no immunization required, nothing. The parent is then left to determine the proper path for the child. So basically, just fill out a form and swear that its not for the purpose of avoiding the attendance law, and you are set to become a homeschool teacher that will educate and sculpt the minds of our future generation.

Here is the link to the Mississippi Department of Education and list for a local School Attendance Officer and the Homeschool Enrollment Form to assist you with enrollment of your child in homeschool if you should choose to do so. Later this week, I will continue the homeschooling theme by posting options for homeschooling.