How to Withdraw Your Child from School in New Hampshire
You've made the decision to homeschool. Now you need to get your child out of school cleanly — without triggering truancy, without a confrontational meeting with the principal, and without handing over a curriculum plan you don't even have yet.
New Hampshire's home education law is actually parent-friendly. RSA 193-A gives you a clear right to educate your child at home, and the withdrawal process is simpler than most families expect. The key is knowing exactly what the law requires and nothing more.
What New Hampshire Law Actually Says
New Hampshire's home education statute is RSA 193-A. It gives parents the right to home-educate their children without district approval, without certified-teacher oversight, and without annual re-enrollment paperwork.
Two things happen when you start homeschooling:
- You send a withdrawal letter to the school
- You file a notification of intent with a participating agency
These are separate documents serving separate purposes. Conflating them — or skipping one — is the most common mistake families make.
In 2023-2024, roughly 6.34% of New Hampshire K-12 students were homeschooled; participation grew 14.5% in 2024-2025. The process is well-worn, but that doesn't mean every school administrator will handle it smoothly.
Step 1: Send a Withdrawal Letter to the School
The withdrawal letter goes to the school principal at the school your child currently attends. It does not go to the district office, the superintendent, or the NH DOE — it goes directly to the school.
Keep it short. The letter needs to say:
- The date your child is withdrawing
- Your intent to homeschool under RSA 193-A
That's it. You do not owe the school a reason. You do not need to explain your curriculum. You do not need to schedule a withdrawal meeting or attend any exit interview.
Send it via USPS Certified Mail — Return Receipt Requested. This provides documented delivery evidence, but it is not an indisputable or legally binding compliance guarantee. Keep the delivery record.
A school that tries to schedule a mandatory meeting, inspect your curriculum, or condition the withdrawal on some form of approval is acting outside its authority. RSA 193-A:11 and Ed 315 explicitly prohibit districts from enforcing policies more restrictive than state statute. The language implying district "approval" was removed from the law in 2022 precisely because it was being misused.
If you get pushback, the NH DOE Technical Advisory on Home Education is the document to reference. It clarifies the school's limited role in the withdrawal process.
Step 2: Notify a Participating Agency Within 5 Business Days
Within 5 business days of the date your home education program commences, you must file a notification letter with a "participating agency." This requirement comes from RSA 193-A and is administered under Ed 315.
You have three options for your participating agency:
1. Local superintendent (free) Your district's superintendent. Most families use this option. The address is publicly available on the district website.
2. NH DOE Commissioner (free) The Commissioner of Education. You can send your notification directly to Concord. Some families prefer this because it keeps the local district out of the loop.
3. A participating private school (fee varies) A private school that has chosen to offer this service. This option can provide a buffer from local-district records, but it does not guarantee that no government record exists; a fee is typically required.
The notification letter must contain the following statutory information:
- Names, addresses, and dates of birth of the children being home-educated
- Names and addresses of the parents or legal guardians
- Date the home education program commences
That is a complete, legally compliant notification. Do not add curriculum descriptions, grade levels, educational philosophy, or reasons for withdrawing. Anything beyond the statutory minimum is over-compliance and gives the agency more information than they're entitled to.
This notification is one-time per child, not an annual renewal. A family using a local superintendent must follow the relocation rule if it moves to another New Hampshire district.
The participating agency is required to send you written acknowledgment within 14 days.
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What Schools Cannot Require
This deserves its own section because these requests come up regularly:
- A withdrawal conference or meeting
- Curriculum plans or scope and sequence
- Proof you're "qualified" to teach
- Preemptive standardized testing
- "Approval" of the homeschool program
- Advance notice beyond what RSA 193-A requires
If a school makes any of these demands, they are operating outside the law. You can decline in writing and reference RSA 193-A:11 and Ed 315.
The 5-Business-Day Window Matters
The 5-business-day notification requirement is not a guideline — it's the legal standard. The clock starts from the date the home education program commences, which is not necessarily the child's last day at school.
If there is a gap between the child's last attendance and completed withdrawal paperwork, a district may issue a notice while it processes the records. Properly documented withdrawal should not ordinarily accrue ordinary school absences, but a series of unexcused absences can trigger the district's tiered intervention process under RSA 189:34. In an extreme total-abandonment situation, a DCYF report is possible.
This is why the withdrawal letter and the notification should be prepared together, ideally submitted on the same day while ensuring the agency notification is filed within five business days of commencement.
If you're withdrawing mid-year, the timing is even more important. See our dedicated guide on mid-year withdrawal from school in New Hampshire for the specific considerations.
Homeschool vs. the Education Freedom Account
New Hampshire also has an Education Freedom Account (EFA) program under RSA 194-F, which provides state funding for education expenses. Some families want to do both — use EFA money while homeschooling under RSA 193-A.
You cannot do both simultaneously. If you're enrolled in the EFA program, you're on a different legal pathway. If you're currently homeschooling under RSA 193-A and want to switch to EFA, you must formally terminate your home education program under Ed 315.06 before enrolling. The reverse is also true.
Know which pathway you're choosing before you send anything.
What a Complete Withdrawal Looks Like
Here's what the full process looks like as a checklist:
- Decide on your participating agency (superintendent, NH DOE Commissioner, or private school)
- Draft your withdrawal letter to the school (brief, date of withdrawal + RSA 193-A intent)
- Draft your notification letter to the participating agency (the statutory information only)
- Send both via USPS Certified Mail — Return Receipt Requested and retain the delivery evidence
- Retain copies of everything plus the green return receipt cards
- Wait for written acknowledgment from the participating agency (arrives within 14 days)
That's the complete legal process. No meetings, no approvals, no curriculum review.
If you want the exact letter language, correct addressing, and a step-by-step timeline that walks you through New Hampshire's specific requirements — including what to do if your school pushes back — the New Hampshire Legal Withdrawal Blueprint covers everything in one place.
After Withdrawal
Once your notification is acknowledged, you're operating under RSA 193-A. Your ongoing obligations include maintaining a portfolio of your child's work, conducting an annual evaluation (a publisher-qualified national test, portfolio review by a qualified teacher, the resident district's state assessment, or a mutually agreed valid measurement), and filing any required relocation, agency-transfer, or termination notices.
The first weeks after withdrawal are often the biggest adjustment — for parents and children both. You have more flexibility than most people expect, and less bureaucracy than most people fear. New Hampshire's law was written to respect parental authority, and it largely does.
The most important thing right now is the paperwork. Get the withdrawal and notification letters right, send them correctly, and keep your records. Everything else follows from there.
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