Vermont Homeschool Laws: Requirements, Act 66, and How to Start

Vermont homeschool law sits in a genuinely interesting place right now. The state has required formal home study enrollment since 1987, but 2023 brought the most significant overhaul in that history. If you're sorting out what the rules actually are — and what changed with Act 66 — this is the clearest breakdown you'll find.

The Foundational Statute: 16 V.S.A. §166b

Everything about Vermont homeschooling flows from one statute: 16 V.S.A. §166b. It defines what a home study program is, who can run one, what subjects must be taught, how many instructional days are required, and how student progress must be assessed each year.

The core structure has been in place for decades. Parents who want to home study their child must file a Notice of Intent with the Vermont Agency of Education (AOE), deliver a minimum of 175 days of instruction across required subjects, and conduct an annual End of Year Assessment (EOYA) using one of five approved methods.

What changed dramatically in 2023 was not the requirements themselves, but the relationship between families and the AOE.

What Act 66 (H.461) Actually Changed

Before July 1, 2023, Vermont parents were required to submit their full Minimum Course of Study (MCOS) narrative — a detailed description of what they planned to teach — to the AOE for review before the school year began. At the end of the year, the completed End of Year Assessment portfolio went back to Montpelier for approval. The AOE Home Study Team, which ran at roughly 2.1 full-time equivalents, manually reviewed thousands of these documents each year. Backlogs were common. Families waiting for acknowledgment letters found themselves in technical truancy limbo.

Act 66, effective July 1, 2023, ended all of that. Under the current law:

• Parents no longer submit the MCOS to the AOE for review or approval.
• Parents no longer submit the EOYA to the state at year's end.
• Instead, parents attest on their Notice of Intent that they have developed an MCOS, that they will conduct an annual assessment, and that they will retain those records.

The AOE's role shifted from an oversight body that reviewed curriculum to an administrative processing office that verifies the Notice of Intent is complete. Vermont-certified teachers and certified evaluators still review portfolios — but that's a private transaction between families and evaluators, not a state submission.

The AOE Home Study Team was reduced from approximately 2.1 FTEs to 1.4 FTEs following this change, reflecting how dramatically the submission volume dropped.

This is a significant deregulation. But it comes with an important catch: the legal liability shifted entirely onto parents. When you sign the Notice of Intent under Act 66, you are signing a legally binding attestation. If you ever need to re-enroll your child in public school, face a custody dispute, or deal with a DCF inquiry triggered by truancy allegations, you need to produce the documentation you attested to having. The AOE no longer reviews it, but it must exist.

Vermont Homeschool Requirements at a Glance

For the 2024-2025 school year, approximately 3,400-3,500 Vermont students are enrolled in home study — a population that grew 17% year-over-year, far outpacing the national average of 4.9% growth. Vermont's homeschool rate reached 16.9% during the fall of 2020 pandemic peak; it has since normalized but remains well above pre-pandemic levels.

The current requirements under 16 V.S.A. §166b are:

Annual Notice of Intent. Filed with the AOE at least 10 business days before starting the home study program. Must include student demographics, guardian contact information, attestation of 175 instructional days, attestation of annual assessment, and attestation that an MCOS has been developed. For students not previously enrolled in Vermont public school or a Vermont home study program, an Independent Professional Evidence (IPE) form documenting any disabilities must also be submitted.

175 instructional days. This matches the public school calendar requirement. Vermont does not require a set number of hours per day, so families have flexibility in how those days are structured.

Minimum Course of Study. Required subjects vary by student age (see the dedicated post on Vermont homeschool required subjects for the full breakdown). Students under 13 have a broader list that includes fine arts, physical education, and health. Students 13 and older are only required to cover the core academic subjects.

Annual End of Year Assessment. Families must choose one of five approved methods: standardized testing, teacher assessment by a Vermont-certified teacher, parent report with portfolio (minimum four work samples per subject), online academy grades, or GED/HiSET completion.

Two-year record retention. Assessment records must be kept privately by the family for a minimum of two years. High school records should be kept permanently.

How to Start Homeschooling in Vermont

The process is straightforward once you know the sequence:

1. Decide on your assessment method. Before you file anything, know how you plan to assess your child at year's end. This shapes what documentation you'll gather throughout the year.

2. Develop your MCOS. Map out the subjects you'll cover across 175 days. This does not get submitted to the AOE, but it must exist and you must be prepared to produce it if ever required.

3. Complete the Notice of Intent. Available through the AOE's online portal or as a paper form. Fill in all required fields, sign the attestations.

4. Submit at least 10 days before starting. This is a hard legal requirement. The 10-business-day waiting period is not a formality — starting before the AOE acknowledges your filing means your child is still legally enrolled (and accumulating absences) at their current school.

5. Receive your AOE Acknowledgment Letter. Keep this on file. It is the document you'll present to local school administrators if your child wants to access public school courses or activities under Vermont's integration law (16 V.S.A. § 563(24)).

6. Start teaching. Document as you go. Consistent, organized record-keeping throughout the year is far easier than assembling a portfolio in a panic in May.

The Integration Law: A Vermont Advantage

Vermont's integration statute (16 V.S.A. § 563(24)) requires local school boards to adopt policies allowing homeschooled students to access public school courses, facilities, and extracurricular activities. This is not a courtesy — it's a legal obligation on the district's part. Homeschooled students can take individual classes, use school labs, and participate in sports teams.

To access these services, you present your AOE Acknowledgment Letter to the building principal. The letter is the proof of legal compliance that unlocks these doors.

What Happens if You Don't Follow the Rules

The most common compliance failure is not the MCOS or portfolio — it's the 10-day waiting period. Parents who withdraw a child from public school immediately, without waiting for the AOE to process the Notice of Intent, trigger truancy protocols. Once a student accumulates 20 unexcused absences, the district can refer the case to the Department for Children and Families. This is an avoidable problem that comes entirely from not understanding the sequence of steps.

The second most common failure is inadequate records. Under Act 66, the AOE doesn't review your portfolio. But that does not mean your documentation only needs to satisfy bureaucratic minimums. If you ever face a custody dispute where the other parent alleges educational neglect, or if your child re-enrolls in public school and needs grade placement, a sparse portfolio creates real problems.

Building compliant, organized documentation from day one is the most protective thing you can do as a Vermont home study parent. The Vermont Portfolio & Assessment Templates cover the full structure — Notice of Intent checklist, age-specific MCOS planning sheets, EOYA parent report template, and a high school transcript formatted for Vermont college requirements.

See more United States homeschool guides →