How to Withdraw Your Child from School in Rhode Island

Most parents assume pulling a child out of public school is as simple as sending a note to the principal. In Rhode Island, it is not. RI is one of a small number of states that requires school committee approval before you can legally homeschool — and if you misread that process, you can rack up truancy fines before your child has been home for a single week.

Here is exactly what the law requires and how to move through the process without exposing your family to unnecessary risk.

Rhode Island Is an Approval State — Not a Notification State

The first thing to understand is the legal framework. Under Rhode Island General Laws §16-19-1 through §16-19-3, homeschooling is not a right you exercise by filing a form. It is a privilege the local school committee grants on a program-by-program basis.

That means withdrawing your child from public school involves two separate steps that run in parallel:

1. Submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) to the superintendent of your school district, describing your homeschool program.
2. Submit a withdrawal letter to your child's current principal to formally end their enrollment.

The school committee then votes to approve or deny your program, typically at their next regular meeting. There are 36 school committees across Rhode Island, and each one interprets the law slightly differently. What Cranston requires in an LOI may differ from what Woonsocket expects to see.

Step 1: Write Your Letter of Intent

The LOI is the document the school committee uses to evaluate your program. It should address the core legal standard — that your instruction will be "thorough and efficient" — and cover the required subjects:

• Reading and writing
• Geography
• Arithmetic
• United States history and Rhode Island history
• Principles of American government
• Health and physical education

You do not need a teaching certificate to homeschool in Rhode Island. You do need to convince the committee that your approach is substantive. A vague LOI ("we will use curriculum materials appropriate to our child's level") gives the committee room to ask for more information or schedule a hearing. A specific one ("we will use Saxon Math 5/4 for arithmetic, Story of the World for history, and maintain a 180-day instruction log") gives them less to question.

Address the LOI to the superintendent, not the principal. Send it by certified mail so you have a delivery confirmation date.

Step 2: Send a Withdrawal Letter to the Principal

Simultaneously with the LOI, send a formal withdrawal letter to your child's building principal. This letter should:

• State your child's name, grade, and date of last attendance
• Notify the school that you are withdrawing them to homeschool under RIGL §16-19-1
• Reference that an LOI has been submitted to the superintendent

Send this by certified mail as well. Keep copies of everything.

Some districts will ask you to complete their own internal withdrawal form in addition to the letter. That is fine — fill it out, but do not let the district hold your withdrawal hostage to it. A written certified-mail notice is sufficient under the law.

Step 3: Begin Homeschooling Without Waiting for Approval

This is the part that surprises most parents. Rhode Island law does not require you to wait for the school committee vote before beginning instruction. You should start homeschooling the day after your child's last day of attendance.

The reason is truancy law. Fines for truancy in Rhode Island run up to $50 per day. For 30 or more unexcused absences, the penalty escalates to up to $500 and six months imprisonment. If you stop sending your child to school and then wait four or six weeks for a committee meeting, every day of that gap is a potential unexcused absence in the district's records.

Starting instruction immediately — and documenting it from day one — is your evidence that your child was not truant but was actively being educated at home during the approval period.

What Happens at the School Committee Meeting

The school committee reviews your LOI and votes. Most approvals happen at a single meeting with no parent attendance required. Some committees will ask you to present your program or answer questions.

If the committee denies your application, they must give you a reason. You can revise and resubmit. Approval is rarely withheld outright for a good-faith application that addresses the required subjects, but a vague or incomplete LOI is the most common reason for delays or denials.

Red Flags to Watch For

The district asks you to re-enroll before processing your withdrawal. This is not required under state law and can create confusion about your child's enrollment status. Do not re-enroll.

The district asks for a home visit. In Kindstedt v. East Greenwich (1986), the Rhode Island Supreme Court found home visits unconstitutional. You are not required to allow one.

The principal tells you to wait for approval before pulling your child out. That advice creates the truancy gap described above. Your withdrawal is effective when delivered; your instruction should begin at the same time.

Annual Requirements After Approval

Once approved, RI homeschoolers must complete 180 days of instruction annually and submit to one of three annual evaluation options:

• Standardized testing
• Evaluation by a certified teacher
• Portfolio review

You will resubmit an LOI or annual report to the school committee each year. Keep your instruction logs current — they are your best evidence in any compliance dispute.

The withdrawal and approval process in Rhode Island has more moving parts than most states. If you want a step-by-step kit with a ready-to-send LOI template, withdrawal letter, instruction log, and compliance checklist built around Rhode Island law, the Rhode Island Legal Withdrawal Blueprint covers the full process from first letter to annual renewal.

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