EASLEY — Last week, The Easley Progress published an article which showed the growth in Easley and Clemson Schools. Pickens County, overall, has also seen growth in home-schooling.
From 2015-16 to 2022-23, Pickens County has grown +87% in homeschooling with the biggest year-over-year increase in 2020-21 with the advent of COVID-19. The South Carolina statutes provide parents or guardians with three different options for home-schooling their children. Chart 1 shows the growth overall in the district. Chart 2 shows the totals of each option by year.
Option 1 is Local School District Supervision (59-65-40) which allows the parents to home school their children under the auspices of a school district, if approved by the board of trustees. This is home-schooling through the School District, where the family agrees to have their local school district approve their choice of curriculum as well as their methods of evaluation, with seven requirements and minimum standards. Some of the requirements include the parent/guardian hold a high school diploma or GED, minimum hours of instruction, yearly standardized tests and strict home school record keeping — including a record of evaluations of the students’ progress.
Option 2 is home-schooling through the South Carolina Association of Independent Home Schools (SCAIHS) (59-65-45). This option for home instruction is conducted under the watch of the SCAIHS which is a faith-based organization that oversees accountability and keeps records for all home-schoolers who enroll with it.
“In lieu of the requirement of Section 59-65-40, parents or guardians may teach their children at home if the instruction is conducted under the auspices of the South Carolina Association of Independent Home Schools. Bona fide membership and continuing compliance with the academic standards of SCAIHS exempts the home school from the further requirements of Section 59-65-40,” the statute reads.
Under Option 3, parents may choose a home school association which has no fewer than 50 members and meets the home school requirements. This is also known as “third option associations” (59-65-47).
This option is by far the most popular according to the numbers.
“In lieu of the requirements of Section 59-65-40 or Section 59-65-45, parents or guardians may teach their children at home if the instruction is conducted under the auspices of an association for home schools which has no fewer than fifty members and meets the requirements of this section. Bona fide membership and compliance with the academic standards of the associations exempt the home school from the further requirements of Section 59-65-40 or Section 59-65-45.”