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

How Withdrawal Works in Kansas

Kansas does not have a standalone home school statute. Instead, Kansas law recognizes home schools as non-accredited private schools, and you withdraw your child by registering that school with the Kansas State Department of Education and notifying your child's public school. The registration is free and records only your school's name and address; it is not an approval. There is no testing, no curriculum review, and no state teaching license required.

Once registered, your home school has legal standing as a non-accredited private school under the compulsory attendance law. Your child's absence from public school is lawful because the child is enrolled in your registered school. That is the logic behind registration: it is the step that gives your home school the same standing under state law as any other recognized private school in Kansas.

For the full picture on what your school must do after registration, including the competent-instructor standard, the planned course of study, and the comparable-period requirement, see the Kansas homeschooling guide.

Step 1: Register Your Home School

Before you notify the public school, pick a name for your home school. The name appears on your KSDE registration and can appear on transcripts and diplomas you issue, so choose something you are comfortable putting on official documents. Many families use the family surname, a descriptive phrase, or a combination of both. The name is yours to choose; Kansas does not restrict it beyond asking for one.

With a name in hand, register your school's name and address with the Kansas State Department of Education through its non-accredited private school registration. KSDE provides an online registration. No fee is required, no program review takes place, and no approval is issued. The registration records that your school exists and where it is located. You receive a confirmation once the registration is complete, and that confirmation is your documentation that your school is on file with the state.

One detail to confirm at registration: whether Kansas treats the registration as a one-time filing or an annual requirement. The state's guidance on this has shifted over time, so check the current expectation at ksde.gov when you register. Some years the state asks for an annual update; in other years it does not. Filing each year when in doubt keeps your school current.

We cover the registration and the legal framework in the Kansas homeschooling guide. Before you begin teaching, a free reading assessment tells you exactly where your child stands academically right now, so you can start curriculum at the right level from the first lesson.

Step 2: Notify the School

Once your school is registered, or as you register it, send your child's public school a short written notice stating that you are withdrawing the child to enroll in your non-accredited private school. This notice stops the school from recording your child's absences as truancy and closes out the public enrollment on the school's records. Include the effective date of withdrawal, name your home school, and keep a copy of the notice.

The withdrawal notice and the KSDE registration confirmation work together: the registration establishes your school with the state, and the notice establishes with the specific school that your child is enrolled in it. Keep both documents together in your home school files.

For a mid-year withdrawal, register your school and send the withdrawal notice close together. There is no required sequence between the two steps, but completing both in the same short window keeps the transition clean and prevents any gap in the attendance record during the changeover period.

Step 3: Keep Records and Know Your Duties

Keep your KSDE registration confirmation and your withdrawal notice together in your home school records. While you are in contact with the public school, request any records you want: immunization records, report cards, transcripts, and any prior assessment results. Requesting them at the time of withdrawal is more direct than following up later after the file has been archived.

After the withdrawal, Kansas asks your home school to meet three standards: instruction by a competent instructor, a planned and scheduled course of study, and a school year that runs for a period comparable to the public schools. Kansas public schools run about 186 days for grades 1 through 11, so that is the benchmark for your year. There is no testing, no submission of records to the state, and no curriculum approval. A free reading assessment gives you a concrete starting point for building a curriculum plan around your child's current level before your first lesson.

Special Education and Common Snags

If your child has an Individualized Education Program, the special education services provided through the public school end when you withdraw to a non-accredited private school. Kansas districts may offer limited services to private school students on a voluntary basis, but the mandatory IEP entitlements that apply to enrolled public school students do not carry over. Contact the district's special education office before you send your withdrawal notice if services are currently in place, so you understand what transitions are available and what will end when enrollment closes.

The most common oversight in Kansas is skipping the registration because the rest of the law is so light. A family may notify the school, start teaching, and never register with KSDE because the day-to-day work of home schooling feels complete without it. Registration is what gives your home school its legal standing as a recognized school under the compulsory attendance law. Without it, your child's absence from public school is not covered by enrollment in a recognized private school. Register first, or at the same time you notify the school, and keep the confirmation.

A second common question is about the school name: families sometimes worry the name must be formal or official-sounding. It does not. Any name you are comfortable using on documents works. Choose something and move on; the name does not affect the legal standing of your school.

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

Kansas is light, with one step we would not skip: registering your home school as a non-accredited private school with the Kansas State Department of Education. Pick a name for your school, complete the free online registration, and send a short written notice to your child's public school so attendance stops. Keep both documents together. The one thing families most often overlook is the registration itself, so handle it first before the rest of the year takes over.

After registration, the law asks for a planned course of study from a competent instructor over a year comparable to public schools, with no testing and no submission of records. Keep simple records of what you teach and track the school days. For planning the year, our curriculum planning guide gives you a structured framework. Our Kansas homeschooling guide covers the competent-instructor standard, the planned course requirement, and everything else after registration in full.