Kentucky Homeschool Letter of Intent: What It Is and How to File It

Every Kentucky homeschool family must file one document each year with their local school district: the letter of intent. If you have been searching for a Kentucky homeschool notification form or wondering whether a template you found online actually meets state requirements, this post explains the legal basis, the required content, the deadline, and what a compliant letter looks like.

Kentucky's requirements are genuinely simple. The letter is not an application, not a curriculum approval request, and not a test score submission. It is a statutory filing — a brief written notice that your homeschool exists and that your child is enrolled in it.

The Legal Basis: KRS 159.160

Kentucky does not have a standalone homeschool statute. Instead, home education is legal because KRS 159.030 classifies a homeschool as a type of non-public private school, exempt from public school attendance requirements. KRS 159.160 is the provision that requires private schools — including home schools — to notify the local board of education of the school's existence and student enrollment at the start of each school year.

This notification requirement is the same one that applies to brick-and-mortar private schools. You are not asking for permission. You are registering your school's existence as a statutory matter, just as any private institution would.

There is no state-level form. Each district handles the incoming letters in its own way. Some, like Jefferson County, provide a specific form. Others accept any written letter that contains the required information.

What the Letter Must Include

Under KRS 159.160, the notification must provide the names, ages, and residence (address) of each child enrolled in the school, along with the name of the school. You are effectively telling the district: "Here is my private school, here are the students, here is where they live."

A complete and legally sufficient letter of intent includes:

• The name of your homeschool (you may create any name you like — "The [Family Name] Academy," a full school name, or simply "[Last Name] Home School")
• The full legal name of each child being enrolled
• Each child's date of birth or age
• The grade level of each child (not strictly required by statute but typically requested)
• Your home address (which serves as the school's address)
• The date the school year begins
• Your signature as the school's administrator

That is the complete statutory list. You do not need to include your curriculum, your teaching philosophy, your lesson plans, the number of hours you plan to teach, or any other substantive educational detail. The district is not entitled to evaluate how you will teach — only to receive notice that your school exists.

What the Letter Does Not Need to Include

This is worth stating clearly because districts sometimes request more than they are entitled to receive.

The letter of intent is not required to include:

• Curriculum titles or publishers
• Lesson plans or scope and sequence
• Parent credentials or teaching qualifications
• A detailed daily or weekly schedule
• Proof of prior test scores

If a district sends you a form that requests this information, you are not legally obligated to provide it. The Rudasill decision (Kentucky Supreme Court, 1979) established that the state's authority over non-public schools is limited to verifying basic attendance compliance, not evaluating the quality of instruction.

If you are using a district-provided form that asks for more than the statutory minimum, fill in the required fields and leave optional or legally unauthorized fields blank. A polite note explaining that you are providing the information required under KRS 159.160 is entirely appropriate.

When to File

The letter of intent must be filed within ten calendar days of the start of your school year. This is true whether your school year aligns with the public school calendar or not. If you begin homeschooling mid-year — for instance, after withdrawing from public school in November — you file the letter within ten days of the date you begin instruction.

Because Kentucky homeschools operate as private schools rather than under a registration system, you are not waiting for district approval before you begin teaching. You file, you teach. The two activities can happen simultaneously; there is no clearance period.

Annual Renewal

The letter of intent is not a one-time filing. It must be submitted at the beginning of each school year. Many families keep a copy of their prior year's letter and update the dates and grade levels — the content changes very little from year to year.

Some districts maintain your information in a file and may send a reminder. Do not rely on that. Mark the start of your school year on your calendar and file within ten days regardless of whether you hear from the district.

Where to Send the Letter

The letter goes to the superintendent of your local school district, not to the principal of the school your child previously attended. You can mail it, hand-deliver it to the district's central office, or email it to the superintendent's office (email is increasingly accepted but request a read receipt or written confirmation).

If your district provides a specific form — as Jefferson County does — use that form, but know that it must still meet the minimum statutory content described above, and you are not required to add information beyond what the statute requires.

Keep a copy of everything you send and, if you mail it, use certified mail so you have a delivery record.

Getting the Filing Right the First Time

The practical risk in Kentucky is not that the state will come after you for filing an incomplete letter — it is that a poorly filed or missing letter leaves you exposed if the district's Director of Pupil Personnel investigates a truancy complaint. If the DPP has no record of your letter, your child may appear truant until the matter is sorted out.

A well-drafted letter of intent, sent on time and kept with your records, prevents that problem entirely. The Kentucky Portfolio and Assessment Templates include a ready-to-use letter of intent template that meets KRS 159.160 requirements, covers all required fields, and can be adapted to any Kentucky school district without needing to decipher the statute yourself.

The letter is simple. Getting it right once means you can file it year after year with minimal effort.

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