Home-school bill on hold again

Lawmakers have again shelved a bill to allow Hawaii’s home-schooled students to participate in extracurricular activities at public schools — a recurring debate at the state Capitol for at least the past decade.

But the issue remains in play, as Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Jill Tokuda said she will ask the state school board to thoroughly vet the issue and make a recommendation to lawmakers before next year’s legislative session.

"Maybe we can put this issue to bed once and for all," Tokuda (D, Kailua-Kaneohe) said.

Tokuda will introduce a resolution directing the Board of Education to look at how other states and school districts have tackled the issue. A report would be due to lawmakers 20 days before the 2014 session, which Tokuda says will give them time to craft legislation.

Tokuda and Sen. Sam Slom (R, Diamond Head-Hawaii Kai) introduced bills this session to allow home-schoolers to participate in activities such as athletics and clubs at their neighborhood public schools. The Senate Education Committee deferred Senate Bill 789 on Wednesday and SB 922 earlier in the session.

School districts in at least 30 states allow the practice, according to the Home School Legal Defense Association, but it’s prohibited for the approximately 4,000 students who are home-schooled in Hawaii.

The Department of Education has opposed the practice over concerns about increased costs and enforcing eligibility requirements such as grade-point averages. Public school athletic directors have also opposed the idea.

Parents who home-school their children argue that they pay taxes into the public education system and that their kids should have be allowed to play sports and participate in other after-school activities.

At the same time, a number of home-school parents oppose having to enroll or register with a public school to participate, something other states require and a condition in Tokuda’s failed bill as a way to give funding to schools for home-school participants.

"The road we’ve been taking up until this point hasn’t necessarily produced results. It’s not as simple as just saying, let’s allow them, end of story," Tokuda said.