South Dakota Alternative Instruction Notification: How to File the AIN

When South Dakota parents decide to homeschool, the legal paperwork comes down to one key document: the Alternative Instruction Notification (AIN). It is not a lengthy form, it costs nothing to file, and the state does not have the authority to reject it. But filing it correctly — and at the right time — is what separates families who are legally protected from those who are technically in truancy while believing they've done everything right.

What the AIN Actually Is

The Alternative Instruction Notification is the official state form that activates your family's legal right to homeschool under SDCL §13-27-3. That statute — South Dakota's "alternative instruction" law — is the legal foundation for home education in the state. It allows parents to educate their children outside the public school system without curriculum approval, teacher certification, or state oversight of day-to-day instruction.

Before SB 177 passed in 2021, families had to re-file this notification every year by September 1. That requirement is gone. Under current law, you file the AIN once when you begin homeschooling. You do not re-file annually unless your situation changes — for example, if you move to a different district or re-enroll a child in school and later withdraw them again.

What Information the AIN Requires

The form is minimal by design. The state collects:

• Child's full legal name
• Date of birth
• Name of the resident school district (not necessarily the school your child attended — the district in which you physically reside)
• Parent or guardian signature

That is the complete list. South Dakota does not ask for your intended curriculum, your teaching background, the number of instructional hours you plan to provide, or your child's current academic level. The state cannot legally require that information as a condition of filing.

If your school district's paper form asks for anything beyond these four items — and some locally-produced forms do — you are not required to provide the additional information. You can cross out supplemental fields, write "not required by SDCL §13-27-3," and submit the rest. The state's own online portal only captures what the statute actually requires.

Filing Online vs. Paper

Online filing through the South Dakota Department of Education portal is the faster and more reliably documented option. You submit the form, receive an electronic confirmation, and have a timestamped record immediately. Save or print that confirmation and keep it with your homeschool records.

Paper filing goes to your local school district superintendent — not the DOE directly. The district is then responsible for forwarding the notification to the state. The risk with paper: if the district's forwarding is delayed or the form gets mishandled, there can be a gap between when you submitted and when the state shows you as a registered alternative instruction family. If you file on paper, send it via Certified Mail with Return Receipt so you have proof of delivery regardless of what happens after.

Either method is legally valid. The practical advantage of online filing is the direct confirmation.

When to File

You must file the AIN within 30 days of beginning alternative instruction. This means within 30 days of the date your child stops attending school and you start homeschooling — not 30 days from when you start thinking about it.

The sequencing that works best:

1. Send a withdrawal letter to your child's school (see the withdrawal process for details)
2. File the AIN with the state on the same day or within a few days
3. Keep both the return receipt from your withdrawal letter and the AIN confirmation in one folder

Filing the AIN before your child's last day of school is also legal — you can notify the state in advance. What you cannot do is let weeks pass after pulling your child from school before filing. Every day without a filed AIN is technically a day your child's absences are unaccounted for in the state's system.

The 22-Child Limit

One requirement that surprises some families: under SDCL §13-27-3, an alternative instruction setting is limited to a maximum of 22 children. For individual family homeschoolers, this limit is irrelevant. But families participating in co-ops, microschools, or learning pods should be aware of this cap. A group that exceeds 22 children is no longer operating under the alternative instruction statute — it triggers different legal requirements.

Compulsory Attendance and Who Needs to File

South Dakota's compulsory attendance law (SDCL §13-27-1) applies to children ages 6 through 18. If your child falls within this range and is not enrolled in an accredited school or an approved private school, you must be operating under an active AIN to be in legal compliance.

Children under age 6 and those 18 or older are outside the compulsory attendance window. If you want to homeschool a 5-year-old, filing the AIN is not legally required — but many families do it anyway so the paperwork is already in place when the child turns 6.

Common Mistakes

Filing with the school instead of the district. The AIN goes to the district superintendent, not the building principal. Most districts route it correctly if you send it to the right school, but addressing it explicitly to the superintendent avoids any ambiguity.

Filing annually out of habit. Under the old law (pre-SB 177), annual filing was required. Some families who have been homeschooling for years still re-file every September 1. This is harmless but unnecessary. Families who are new to South Dakota or moved from a state with annual registration requirements sometimes get confused about this distinction.

Assuming the AIN substitutes for withdrawing from school. Filing the AIN with the state does not automatically notify your child's school that your child is no longer enrolled. You still need to send a formal withdrawal letter to the school. The AIN and the withdrawal letter serve different purposes and go to different recipients.

Not saving confirmation. Whether you file online or by paper, keep your confirmation. School districts occasionally claim they have no record of a notification when truancy questions arise. A timestamped confirmation or a certified mail receipt resolves those situations quickly.

The South Dakota Legal Withdrawal Blueprint includes a pre-filled AIN walkthrough, a withdrawal letter template, and documentation guidance so you have a complete paper trail from day one.

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