This odd timeframe baffles many, both new and experienced homeschoolers alike. Why, for example, aren't we told to file by September 1, which is the first day public schools may hold classes each fall? Or why aren't we mandated to file on the first day we actually begin our homeschool academic studies each year? And why is the changeable date of "the third Friday in September" the first legal day; why isn't there one set date every year?
The answer lies in the wisdom of those who worked tirelessly to pass Wisconsin's very favorable homeschool law in the early 1980s, a law which has not been substantively changed since that time. Specifically, those modern homeschool pioneers wanted to see to it that Wisconsin homeschoolers were not singled out and treated differently than any others providing a legal means of education in the state. And despite the fact that the schools' first days occur in very early September (or possibly late August for private schools), the law explicitly requires a headcount of every student enrolled and present ON the third Friday in September - not earlier. Why legislators chose this changeable day instead of one constant date is unknown, but it is, in fact, the law for every educational venue in the state. Thus, the homeschool law denotes the third Friday in September as the beginning of the window in which we must report our own headcount to the state so that our children are treated the same as all others for purposes of state records.
Likewise, the October 15 deadline exists because that is the date by which school administrators are mandated to submit the paperwork from their "third Friday counts" to the state. In other words, they must count ON the third Friday in September and must then turn in required reports to the state between that date and October 15. Administrators are granted several weeks' time because they must submit extensive paperwork far beyond the nature of our PI-1206 form and are, of course, accounting for hundreds or even thousands of students. Our homeschool "headcount" takes just a few moments, but the homeschool law provides us the same window for filing our report - again, to insure fairness under the law for homeschooled kids.
Interestingly, if it were discovered that a school official had taken a headcount before or after the third Friday in September, he would be sanctioned by the DPI for violating the law. In the case of institutional schools - including children enrolled in public online/virtual school programs, who are labeled as public school students under state law - the specificity is important because federal and state funds are allocated to the schools based on each one's "third Friday count." Thus, for fairness' sake, the state demands consistency. Homeschoolers who file early are not similarly sanctioned - probably since we don't receive any government funding - but the fact remains that the law really does say we are to count ON the third Friday in September and not before...which means that if we don't count before the third Friday, we shouldn't file our PI-1206 forms prior to that date.
Though we won't be punished for filing early, there are more important reasons for continuing homeschoolers to wait for the legal window: our kids' privacy and continued protection for all Wisconsin homeschoolers.
The moment you file a PI-1206 form, DPI sends the information to the public school district in which you reside, not because you are under the authority of that district (you are not, as you become the administrator of your own, private educational program), but, rather, to inform the district that you are complying with the compulsory attendance law (i.e., so the district won't send a truancy officer to your home). However, if you are a continuing homeschooler (i.e., you were homeschooling at the end of the previous school year and will continue to do so) and file before the third Friday in September, you alert school officials to the fact that your children are "up for grabs," so to speak. In other words, if they learn that your children won't be in school before their official headcount day, they might contact you to try convincing you to enroll. Of course, they receive the same information whenever you file your PI-1206 form, but after they've taken their third Friday counts, they have no motivation to bother you. In fact, they won't receive extra money for children who enroll after the third Friday counts so their motivation to leave you alone is greatly heightened if you wait.
And waiting - as a continuing homeschooler - protects us all. The modern homeschool pioneers in Wisconsin worked hard to maximize our privacy and freedom under the law. In fact, this state's homeschool law is one of the best in the nation when interpreted as originally intended by its authors. But if homeschoolers - especially those continuing to homeschool year to year - begin to file their notification forms before the third Friday in September, it's possible that DPI bureaucrats or legislators would take notice and decide it would be in the state's interest to change that law and require us all to provide enrollment reports before those administering other educational programs. By filing within the state-mandated timeframe, we fly under the radar, so to speak, and in so doing also hold bureaucrats to the letter of the current law.
All that said, a couple of important exceptions to the filing window do exist:
First, if your child will be 6 by September 1 and attended any form of institutional schooling - public brick-and-mortar, public online/virtual, private brick-and-mortar - during the previous school year, you should file a PI-1206 form and then immediately formally withdraw him from the school prior to September 1 (i.e., the first day public schools in Wisconsin are allowed to open each year). You do this - as explained in more detail HERE - to avoid truancy issues, but you only do it one time - the year you are withdrawing from a school. Going forward, you should wait until the timeframe described above. (On the other hand, if you are withdrawing a child who will not turn 6 prior to September 1, you simply write a formal withdrawal letter. You cannot file a PI-1206 form for any child younger than age 6 because he is younger than the compulsory school attendance age.)
Second, if you decide to pull your child from any form of institutional schooling to begin homeschooling in the "middle" of the year (i.e., any date after the official start-date of the school your child attended - whether September 2, May 31 or any day in between), you must file a PI-1206 form on that day and then immediately formally withdraw the child from the school. If you do not become a legal homeschooler - by filing a PI-1206 - prior to withdrawing the child, your child will be considered truant.
At first glance, this business of when to file a PI-1206 form seems capricious. However, there was good reason for choosing the legal timeframe when the law was written, and those reasons are just as valid today. If you are a continuing homeschooler and feel you want to file early - i.e., before the third Friday in September - so you won't forget, please reconsider, for the sake of your kids and all other homeschoolers in the state. Instead of filing early, simply make note on your calendars - many homeschoolers choose October 1 as an easy-to-remember date well within the legal window - and take care of it then.
And for a full explanation of the Wisconsin homeschool law, click HERE.
