How to Withdraw Your Child From Public School in Colorado (2026): Step by Step

How Withdrawal Works in Colorado

Colorado establishes a home-based education program through a written notice of intent filed with a school district at least 14 days before you begin. You may file with any Colorado district, not just your own. After that 14-day lead has passed and you have begun home-based education, your program is established under Colorado Revised Statutes Section 22-33-104.5. You then notify your child's public school so attendance stops. There is no approval step and no parent credential required.

Colorado's compulsory school age runs from 6 through 17. If your child is within that range and currently enrolled in a public school, withdrawing means replacing that enrollment with a home-based education program. The notice goes to the district first, the 14-day window passes, and then your home-based program is operational.

One feature of Colorado's law stands out: you can file the notice with any school district in the state, not only the district where you live. Some families use this to work with a district that has a clear and smooth process. The district you file with is not necessarily the district your child attended as a public school student.

Step 1: File the Notice of Intent

File a written notice of intent to establish a home-based education program with the superintendent of a school district at least 14 days before you begin. The notice must include each child's name and age, the name of the person who will provide instruction, and a list of the subjects you plan to teach. These are the statutory requirements under Colorado Revised Statutes Section 22-33-104.5.

Colorado does not require you to use a specific form. A written letter addressed to the superintendent that contains the required information is enough. Keep a dated copy of your notice and any written acknowledgment from the district. Some districts send a confirmation letter; others do not. Either way, your dated copy establishes when the notice was filed and when the 14-day window opened.

You may file this notice with any Colorado school district. If your local district is difficult to work with, you may choose another district in the state. That choice does not affect the validity of your home-based program or your rights under state law.

We cover the notice and all ongoing requirements in our Colorado homeschooling guide. Before you begin, a free reading assessment gives you a clear picture of where your child's reading skills stand so you can start instruction at the right level from day one.

Step 2: Mind the 14-Day Lead

The 14-day lead is the timing rule to plan around. You file the notice at least 14 days before your home-based education begins -- both for an initial start and before each subsequent school year. For a mid-year withdrawal, this means filing the notice and then waiting at least 14 days before beginning home-based education, rather than stopping attendance on the same day you decide to home school.

If your child is currently enrolled in a public school and you want to withdraw mid-year, work out the timing before you act. File the notice, count forward 14 days, and mark that as your home-based education start date. Your child can stop attending public school on or after that date.

Keep a dated copy of your notice and any acknowledgment from the district. The date on your copy is what establishes when the 14-day window opened. If there is ever a question about timing, your dated copy answers it. Do not rely on an email timestamp alone; keep a printed or saved copy in your records.

Step 3: Notify the School and Keep Records

With your notice filed, send your child's public school written notice that your child is withdrawing to a home-based education program. A short letter to the school office is enough. Written notice stops attendance tracking and creates a record of the withdrawal date. Keep it alongside your notice of intent in the same folder.

While you are in contact with the school, request any records you want before the withdrawal is complete. Immunization records, transcripts, and prior assessment results belong to the family and are straightforward to request at the point of withdrawal. Collecting them at this stage saves effort later.

After the withdrawal, Colorado asks you to provide instruction in required subjects for at least 172 days per year at a minimum of four hours per day. Beginning at age 8, you complete an annual evaluation using one of four approved methods and keep the results in your records -- you do not submit the assessment to the district. Use our homeschooling guide to plan what to teach and how to structure the year from the start.

Special Education and Common Snags

If your child has an Individualized Education Program, the special education services the public school provides end when your child withdraws to a home-based program. The mandatory IEP entitlement does not carry over. Colorado allows school districts to make certain services available to home-based education students with disabilities on a voluntary basis, but those services are not guaranteed and are distinct from the IEP services the public school was required to provide. Contact your district's special education office before withdrawing if your child receives IEP services and depends on them.

The most common timing mistake in Colorado is underestimating the 14-day lead. A family decides to home school, sends the school a withdrawal notice the same day, and starts home-based education immediately. That sequence does not satisfy the statute. The notice must go to the district superintendent, not just the school, and it must be filed at least 14 days before the home-based program begins. Plan that window and the process is straightforward.

A second question that comes up regularly is whether the school notice and the district notice are the same document. They are not. You file your notice of intent with a school district superintendent; you send a separate written withdrawal notice to the public school your child attended. Both steps together close out the public school enrollment and establish your home-based program cleanly.

A Note from Homeschool Teacher Guide: What This Really Means for You

Colorado is a clean notice state with one timing rule we would not ignore: the 14-day lead. File your written notice with a district at least two weeks before your home-based education starts, then send a short note to your child's public school. Because Colorado lets you file with any district, you have some flexibility on where. Keep your notice and withdrawal letter together, and remember the annual assessment kicks in at age 8. Plan the two-week window, and the transfer is clean on paper. Our Colorado homeschooling guide covers the days, hours, and assessment that follow.