Home-Schooling Bill Clears First Hurdle
- Ernice Gilbert
- October 05, 2016
ST. CROIX -- A measure seeking to untie home-schooling from the regulatory eye of the Virgin Islands Board of Education won the favor of all senators gathered at the Frits E. Lawaetz Legislative Hall here on Monday, who make up the Committee on Education and Workforce Development. Though the measure will be amended, senators generally agreed with the measure, with the bill's sponsor, Senator Novelle Francis -- who said the bill was specifically for parents and guardians who home-school their children, and not the many learning centers throughout the territory that essentially operate as unlicensed private schools -- pointing to the growing interest in home-schooling from parents throughout the territory. The bill, seen here, says, "A parent retains full control over a home instruction of a child, including the 9 teaching and testing methods, the selection of curriculum, the instructors, and the location of 10 instruction. Neither the commissioner, the Department of Education, nor ...
