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

How Withdrawal Works in Maryland

Withdrawing your child from public school in Maryland runs through two decisions. You file a notice of consent to provide home instruction with your county superintendent, and you choose who oversees your home school program. Filing the notice at least 15 days before you begin home instruction is the legal trigger. There is no approval process and no vote. Your notice and oversight choice establish your home instruction under Maryland Code, Education Article Section 7-301, and you can begin once the 15 days have passed.

Maryland's compulsory attendance age runs from 5 to 18. Within that window, you are not abandoning a legal obligation -- you are substituting home instruction for public school enrollment. The county superintendent records the transition. Your child's public school attendance obligation ends when home instruction begins.

Two things are worth settling before you file. First, choose your oversight route, because it determines who reviews your home school program and how. Second, prepare a brief written notice for the public school, because sending it when you start stops attendance tracking and creates a paper record of the withdrawal date. Both steps together close the loop with the public school and open the door to home instruction.

Step 1: Choose Your Oversight Route

Maryland gives you a choice when you set up home instruction: the county school system route or the umbrella route. Under the county route, the county school system oversees your program. A school official reviews a portfolio of your child's work twice a year -- once early in the school year and once mid-year -- to confirm that instruction is taking place across the required subjects. Under the umbrella route, you affiliate with a state-approved nonpublic organization or church-related program. That organization conducts the review instead of the county, sets its own review format, and coordinates with the county on your behalf.

The county route is free and involves no enrollment with a third party. The umbrella route adds an organization between you and the county, and many families find the umbrella review more flexible or easier to work with. Some umbrella programs are minimal in their oversight; others are more structured. Research specific Maryland umbrella organizations before affiliating to understand what they require of member families.

We compare both routes in depth in our Maryland homeschooling guide. Before you choose, a free reading assessment gives you a clear picture of where your child stands so you can plan instruction at the right level from day one.

Step 2: File the Notice of Consent

File a notice of consent to provide home instruction with your county superintendent at least 15 days before you plan to begin. The notice records your intent to home school and which oversight route you have chosen. If you choose an umbrella program, you also enroll with that organization, which then coordinates with the county in your place.

Filing on time matters because the 15-day requirement is statutory. Keep a dated copy of your filed notice and any written acknowledgment you receive from the county office or your umbrella program. If you are filing mid-year -- withdrawing during the school year rather than at the start of one -- the same 15-day lead time applies. File first, then pull your child from school. The notice period is not retroactive.

Many counties have their own notice forms. Contact your county board of education before filing to request the current form and ask about any county-specific procedures. Filing a county-approved form, rather than a letter you drafted yourself, avoids any question about whether the notice satisfies the county's requirements. If you are uncertain which county handles your child's enrollment, contact the public school; they can point you to the right office.

If your child is currently enrolled in a public school, the 15-day lead time means you cannot withdraw on the same day you decide to home school. Plan the transition in advance so the notice period does not delay your start date.

Step 3: Notify the School and Keep Records

Once your notice is filed with the county, send your child's public school a written notice that your child is withdrawn to home instruction. A brief letter to the school office is enough. Written notice creates a record and stops the school's attendance tracking for your child. Without it, the school may continue to mark your child absent.

While you are in contact with the school, request any records you want before the withdrawal is complete. Immunization records, transcripts, prior assessment results, and records related to services your child received are yours to request. Gathering them at withdrawal is easier than tracking them down months later when they may be harder to access quickly.

Save your notice of consent from the county and your withdrawal letter to the school together in a folder you can locate quickly. You may be asked to produce the notice if there is ever a question about your child's enrollment status. Keep both documents for the duration of your home instruction program.

After withdrawal, your main ongoing task is building and maintaining a portfolio. Start it from the first day of home instruction. Keep samples of your child's work across the required subjects and documentation of the materials you use. The county or your umbrella program reviews it twice a year. Starting the portfolio at day one means you arrive at the first review with months of material already collected rather than scrambling to reconstruct it. See our homeschooling guide for a full plan for what to teach once you begin.

The Portfolio Review and Special Education

Maryland's portfolio review is lighter than it first sounds. The reviewer confirms that instruction is occurring across the required subject areas. They are not grading your child's work, approving your curriculum choices, or comparing your child's performance to any grade-level standard. A running folder with a couple of items per subject per month -- a math worksheet, a writing sample, a science project summary, a social studies reading response -- builds a complete portfolio with minimal extra effort. The main Maryland homeschooling guide covers what the portfolio should contain and how the two annual reviews work.

If your child receives services under an Individualized Education Program through the public school, those services end when you withdraw to home instruction. The public school IEP entitlement does not transfer. Maryland counties may offer limited services to students with disabilities who are enrolled in nonpublic programs on a voluntary basis, but those services are not guaranteed and are not the same as the IEP services your child received in the public school. Contact the county's special education office before withdrawing if your child depends on IEP services. Know what the transition looks like before you file the notice, not after.

Withdrawal and IEP service termination happen at the same moment. There is no grace period for continuing public school services while you set up your home program. If services matter to your child's education, plan the transition carefully and contact the special education office early in the process.

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

Maryland asks you to make one real decision up front: county oversight or an umbrella program. We would weigh that first, because it sets the tone for your year. The county route is straightforward and free; an umbrella often means a lighter, friendlier review. Once you choose, file your notice of consent with the county at least 15 days before you start, send a short note to your child's school, and begin a portfolio from day one so the twice-a-year reviews are painless. Keep your notice and withdrawal letter together. Our Maryland homeschooling guide covers the portfolio and both routes in full.