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

How Withdrawal Works in Vermont

Vermont home study law establishes that you start a home study program, not that you withdraw from public school as a separate legal step. The two actions are connected: filing your home study enrollment with the Vermont Agency of Education is what creates your home study program, and notifying the public school is what closes out the public enrollment. Done in the right order and with the right timing, the transition is clean.

The Agency of Education accepts your enrollment at least 10 business days before your intended start date. You include a brief outline of your program covering the minimum course of study, name the instructor, and describe the subjects you will cover through the year. There is no approval step. The enrollment is a notice, not a permission request. Once the 10 business days pass, you may begin. Vermont does not require a parent teaching credential and does not send an inspector to review your program.

The enrollment is annual. You re-file it each year and attach the prior year's end-of-year assessment of your child's progress. That annual cycle is the rhythm of home study in Vermont. Understanding it before you start means no year catches you off guard. For the full picture of the enrollment fields, the required subjects, and the assessment options, see the Vermont homeschooling guide.

Step 1: File Your Home Study Enrollment

Your first task is to file a home study enrollment with the Vermont Agency of Education. The enrollment form is available through the Agency's home study office. On it, you name your child, provide contact information for yourself and the instructor, identify your school district, and describe your program in each of the required subject areas: basic communication including reading, writing, and the use of numbers; citizenship, history, and government in Vermont and the United States; physical education and health education; English, American, and other literature; the natural sciences; and the fine arts.

The descriptions do not need to be long. A few sentences for each field is enough. The goal is to show that you have planned instruction across the required areas. Sketch your year before you file so the descriptions match what you will teach. The Vermont homeschooling guide covers what each required field means and what a solid description looks like.

Before you write your content descriptions, run a free reading and academic assessment so you know where your child stands. That baseline shapes the level of materials you choose and makes your program descriptions more accurate from the start.

Step 2: Mind the 10-Day Timing and Notify the School

Vermont's most important timing rule is the 10-business-day lead time. You must file your enrollment at least 10 business days before the date you intend to start home study instruction. Count business days, not calendar days: weekends and public holidays do not count. If you want to start on a Monday, count backward through the two preceding weeks, skipping any holidays, to find your earliest filing date and your earliest permitted start.

Keep your child enrolled in public school until the 10 business days have passed. Removing your child before the window closes can create an attendance gap that the district records as unexcused absences. Plan the last school day and the first home study day to align with your actual filing window. For a mid-year withdrawal, this means keeping your child attending until your enrollment has been on file for the full 10 business days, so there is no gap in the record.

Once your enrollment is filed and the 10 days have passed, send a written notice to your child's public school that the child is withdrawn to home study. The notice does not need to be formal. A short letter stating that you have filed a home study enrollment with the Agency of Education and identifying the child's last day at school is enough. Keep a copy with your enrollment confirmation. The school uses the notice to close out the attendance file and stop tracking the child as an enrolled student.

Step 3: Keep Records and Know the Annual Cycle

After your home study has started, keep your enrollment confirmation and your written school notification together in one file. Request school records before the transition if you want them. Immunization records, report cards, and transcripts are easier to obtain while the public school file is still active. Once your child has been out of the public system for a period of time, older records can take more effort to retrieve.

Vermont home study runs on an annual cycle. Each year, you re-file the enrollment notice and attach the end-of-year assessment from the prior year. The assessment can take one of three forms: a report by a Vermont licensed teacher who has met with your child and reviewed a portfolio, the complete results of a standardized achievement test, or a report by the instructor accompanied by a portfolio of your child's work for the year. Plan your assessment method early so you are building toward it through the year rather than scrambling at the end. The Vermont homeschooling guide covers all three assessment options in detail.

Set a calendar reminder for your renewal filing each year so the 10-business-day lead time does not catch you short. Use the planning guide to map the required fields to a curriculum before you file, so your content descriptions are grounded in a real year plan and your assessment grows out of what you taught.

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 home study. Vermont law does not require districts to continue IEP services for home study students, and the public school entitlement does not transfer. Some districts may offer limited services on a voluntary basis, but there is no guarantee. Contact your district's special education office before you submit your enrollment if services are in place and you want to understand what remains available after withdrawal. Those conversations are much easier to have before the transition than after.

The most common snag in Vermont is the 10-business-day window. Parents sometimes count calendar days instead of business days, which can shorten the required lead time without realizing it. Others pull their child from public school before the period closes, creating a gap in attendance records. File early, count correctly, and hold your start date until the window has fully passed. A second common issue is incomplete program descriptions on the enrollment form. Include something for each required subject field, even briefly. An enrollment that leaves fields blank may come back with questions and delay your start date.

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

Vermont asks for a real enrollment, but it is manageable once you plan around two things. File your home study enrollment with the Agency of Education at least 10 business days before you start, counting business days, and keep your child enrolled in public school until that window closes so there is no attendance gap. Include a brief outline of your program covering the required fields. The enrollment is annual, and you will include an end-of-year assessment with each renewal, so set a yearly reminder now. Send a short written notice to the school so attendance tracking stops, and keep your enrollment confirmation somewhere you can find it a year from now when you re-file. Our Vermont homeschooling guide covers the required subjects and the assessment options in full. We also have a free reading assessment if you want a clear baseline before you choose materials for your first year.