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 the only state requiring explicit local school committee approval of the homeschool program — 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 requires a program to be submitted for local school committee approval under the statutory criteria; filing a form alone is not enough.

That means the program needs local school committee approval, and 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. 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.

For a mid-year withdrawal, copy the district superintendent on the withdrawal correspondence as well.

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. Once both the LOI and withdrawal letter are submitted, instruction should begin immediately.

The reason is truancy law. Because the district may still be processing the withdrawal and may flag absences while approval is pending, the 14-to-30-day processing gap can create avoidable risk. The statutory maximum for unexcused absence is $50 per day; if absences exceed 30 days during a school year, the penalty may be up to $500, six months imprisonment, or both.

Starting instruction immediately — and documenting it from day one — creates a record that instruction began 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, request the reason in writing. 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), mandatory home visits were barred as a condition of approval. You are not required to allow one.

The principal tells you to wait for approval before pulling your child out. That advice can create the processing gap described above. State the effective date in your withdrawal letter, submit it with the LOI, and begin instruction immediately after both are sent.

Annual Requirements After Approval

Once approved, RI homeschoolers must complete 180 days of instruction annually and complete an annual evaluation using one of three methods agreed with the school committee:

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

You will submit an annual End of Year evaluation report based on the district-agreed method and confirm the next evaluation process with 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 evaluation.

See more Rhode Island guides →