Louisiana BESE Homeschool Renewal: Deadlines, Requirements, and What to Submit

Every August, the same panic sets in for Louisiana BESE families. You've been homeschooling all year, your child has learned a ton, and now the renewal window is open and you're not sure if what you've documented is enough. The October 1 deadline is firm. BESE doesn't grant extensions for families who simply weren't ready.

This is the complete walkthrough: what renewal requires, when to file, which evidence option makes sense for your family, and how to avoid the documentation mistakes that cause rejections.

What BESE Renewal Actually Means

When you enrolled in the BESE Approved Home Study Program, you didn't get a permanent approval. BESE approval must be renewed each year. The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) requires that families demonstrate their program has provided "a sustained curriculum of quality at least equal to that offered by public schools at the same grade level."

That phrase — sustained curriculum of quality — is the legal standard you're working against. It's intentionally flexible, which gives families latitude but also creates anxiety because there's no single prescribed format. What BESE reviewers want to see is evidence: documented, organized proof that real academic work happened over the course of the year across the required core subjects.

The core required subjects are Mathematics, English Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies. At the high school level, your records must also align with the credit requirements that preserve your student's TOPS scholarship eligibility.

The October 1 Deadline

Renewals are due October 1. This date does not move. BESE sets the academic year renewal window to open in early August, giving families approximately eight weeks to gather documentation and submit through the EdLink portal.

Missing October 1 puts your family in an unapproved status. That creates two immediate problems: first, truancy risk, since Louisiana requires students to be enrolled in an approved program; second, potential disruption to TOPS eligibility for high school students, since continuous enrollment in the BESE program during 11th and 12th grade is a hard requirement for the scholarship.

If you're renewing for the first time, set a calendar reminder in mid-August to begin pulling together your materials. Waiting until late September leaves you scrambling if the portal has technical issues or if you discover gaps in your records.

Three Ways to Satisfy the Renewal Requirement

BESE gives families three options for demonstrating the sustained curriculum standard. You choose one — you don't have to provide all three.

Option 1: Standardized Test Scores

Submit results from a nationally normed standardized test. Commonly used tests include the California Achievement Test (CAT), Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), or Stanford Achievement Test. Results must be from the current school year.

This option is straightforward if your child tests well and you've already planned testing into your school year schedule. The risk is that test results aren't always representative of what a child actually knows, and for children with testing anxiety or learning differences, a single test performance can misrepresent a genuinely strong year of academic work.

Option 2: Certified Teacher Evaluation

Have a certified Louisiana teacher review your child's work and write a formal evaluation letter confirming that the program meets the sustained curriculum standard. The teacher must hold a valid Louisiana certification.

This option works well for families with a personal connection to a certified educator. It's more labor-intensive than submitting test scores but provides a human judgment about the quality of your program, which many families find less stressful than standardized testing.

Option 3: Portfolio (Packet of Materials)

Submit a packet of materials documenting your program — the subjects taught, the books and curricula used, and samples of your child's actual academic work. This is the most common approach because it doesn't require scheduling external testing or finding an evaluator.

The packet must include:

• An outline of subjects taught
• A list of books and materials used
• Copies of student work samples across core subjects

This is where documentation kept throughout the year pays off. Families who've been keeping organized records find the portfolio option fast. Families who haven't tracked anything face a stressful scramble trying to reconstruct what happened over nine months of school.

How to Submit: The EdLink Portal

Renewal applications are filed through LDOE's EdLink portal (edlink.doe.louisiana.gov). You'll log in with the account you created when you originally enrolled. If you've forgotten your credentials, use the portal's account recovery option — don't wait on LDOE phone support close to the deadline, as wait times get long in September.

Inside EdLink, you'll update your student's grade level, confirm your contact information, and upload your supporting documentation (if submitting a portfolio or teacher evaluation). Test scores can be submitted as scanned copies of the official score report.

The portal generates a confirmation receipt once your submission is accepted. Save that confirmation. If there's ever a question about whether you filed on time, that receipt is your proof.

Common Renewal Mistakes to Avoid

Waiting until September to find test scores. If you're using Option 1, testing needs to happen in the spring or early summer. CAT and ITBS providers have processing timelines — results don't arrive instantly.

Submitting a vague portfolio. A stack of worksheets with no organization or subject labeling is not a strong packet. Reviewers are looking for evidence across all required subjects. Label work samples clearly by subject.

Assuming BESE approval is automatic if you did it last year. Each renewal is evaluated independently. A strong submission last year doesn't carry over.

Missing a grade level update. If your child moved from 7th to 8th grade, that needs to be reflected in your renewal. Submitting for the wrong grade level can flag your application for manual review.

Not keeping high school documentation at TOPS standards. For 11th and 12th graders, your BESE renewal documentation needs to be airtight. An LDOE reviewer who flags your student's 11th-grade renewal as insufficient can disrupt TOPS eligibility. Don't treat those years as casual — document them as thoroughly as you would a college application transcript.

High School Renewal and TOPS

For families with students in 11th or 12th grade, the stakes of the BESE renewal are amplified by TOPS. The Taylor Opportunity Program for Students requires continuous BESE enrollment in both 11th and 12th grade. A gap in approval — even a short one caused by a late or rejected renewal — creates a problem with your LOSFA file.

At the high school level, your renewal packet should also reflect the credit structure that matches TOPS requirements: four credits of English, three credits of Math (at or above Algebra II), three credits of Science, and three credits of Social Studies, among others. Keeping a running high school transcript throughout the year makes it significantly easier to demonstrate this at renewal time.

The Louisiana Portfolio & Assessment Templates includes a BESE-aligned Annual Summary Cover Sheet, subject documentation forms, and a high school transcript template with GPA calculation — specifically designed for families who want to submit the packet of materials option with confidence.

What Happens After You Submit

BESE reviews submissions and will contact you if there are deficiencies. If your packet is incomplete or your test scores are missing a required component, you'll receive a deficiency notice. At that point you typically have a short window to respond — a few weeks at most — before the application is formally rejected.

A rejected renewal means your family is in unapproved status until the issue is resolved. Getting back into approved status mid-year requires reapplying, which adds administrative burden and risk to TOPS continuity.

The best outcome is a clean submission the first time. Organized, complete documentation submitted before the October 1 deadline is the goal.

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