- The PI-1206 is an online form that must be filed (HERE at the DPI website) every year by every legally-recognized homeschool family with at least one child between the ages of 6 and 18. It is not a “registration” or a “permission form.” It is merely notification – i.e., you are telling the state that you’ll be meeting the compulsory attendance law through homeschooling (not asking or seeking anyone’s “approval”);
- It is mandatory. If you have a child of compulsory attendance age who is not enrolled in another type of school (including public-school-at-home, PSAH) and do not file a PI-1206, the child is truant;
- Filing a PI-1206 applies only to those who are privately homeschooling, not to those using any iteration of a PSAH (i.e., any program wherein you receive financial stipends and/or free material/resources from a school district). By statute, kids using PSAH programs are considered to be enrolled in the sponsoring public school district, and that district will take care of filing the appropriate enrollment report on your child, who will be counted as a public-school student (even though s/he studies from home). Please note: This is not a bash of PSAH users; it is simply a statement of legal reality;
- Filing a PI-1206 does apply most of the time if your child is enrolled in a private-pay online school or in a program like Classical Conversations. Generally speaking, children not attending a local brick-and-mortar public or private school or not enrolled in a PSAH are considered – by law – to be homeschoolers, required to file an annual PI-1206;
- With regard to private-pay online academies, most do not submit enrollment paperwork to the Wisconsin DPI. Therefore - because parents pay for those programs (i.e., they're not PSAH programs) and the children in them are studying from home - they are homeschoolers by law. That said, some private-pay online academies are recognized as "private schools" in Wisconsin (AOE, Academy of Excellence, being the most prominent example) – and children enrolled in them do not file a PI-1206 and are not considered by law to be homeschoolers. Thus, before you file, do ask an administrator of the private-pay online academy you’re using if the program files enrollment paperwork with the state of Wisconsin. If it does, your child is not legally defined as a homechooler and should not be tallied on the PI-1206. However, if the child is not accounted for with the state by the academy, you must tally him/her on a PI-1206;
- It is not illegal to have filed early – and if your child was enrolled in a conventional school last spring but you’ve now pulled to homeschool, it was likely wise of you to file in August. BUT for those whose children were not in a conventional school at the end of the last “school year,” it is always best to not file until at least the “third Friday,” for these reasons. If you are a continuing homeschooler and filed early this year, please plan to wait next year;
- You do not have to file on the third Friday in September (in fact, the online system may be very busy on that day, so it may behoove you to wait)...and there’s nothing “better” (legally) about filing on that day versus waiting a while. But (if you’re currently homeschooling), you must file by October 15. We often recommend that people plan for October 1, smack in the middle of the window;
- If you have friends considering homeschooling and/or you’re considering it but your kids are still in conventional school, you can withdraw for homeschooling at any time of the year (even after October 15). In those cases, a family simply files the PI-1206 before withdrawing from the current school (as explained HERE), on whatever date that actually occurs. The “window” that starts on the third Friday in September refers to those whose kids are not now enrolled in a conventional public or private school (including PSAH);
- If your child turned 6 by September 1 of this year, you must tally him/her on the form this year. But if his/her birthday was September 2 or later (and/or a child you are homeschooling is still only 5 or 4), you do not tally that child this year;
- The form takes about 10 minutes the first year and less than five going forward, so don’t be intimidated by it. And when you tally your children, we strongly urge going with the “ungraded” option rather than tallying by “grade level.” It is just as legal to provide the “vague” information (i.e., it will not cause suspicion) and appropriately maximizes your child’s privacy (which was one intention of the homeschool law as written);
- Once you file, do download a copy onto your device and save it in a secure location. We also recommend printing at least one copy to keep in a secure paper file. The DPI is not under any obligation to save the forms for you, and having the forms on record is your proof that you’ve complied with the state’s compulsory attendance law;
- The school district in which you reside will be notified that you’ve filed a PI-1206. This is not because you’re under the district’s authority; you are not (i.e., you are only under the authority of the exact letter of the written homeschool law). It is simply to alert the district to leave your kids alone because they are homeschooled. Some districts send (rather patronizing) “confirmation” letters to parents about this, but that is not a legal requirement for districts and need not be saved by you. The only paperwork you need is the PI-1206.
You can also read up on the various elements of the Wisconsin homeschool law HERE and/or listen to a podcast episode about the law HERE.