Remember that the DEADLINE for filing the PI-1206 form – i.e., the form we are required to file each year to homeschool legally in Wisconsin – is always on OCTOBER 15.
Be sure to know and understand what that means...
- Filing the form applies to those who are independently homeschooling according to state statues. Those using any form of public-school-at-home (i.e., wherein they receive stipends and/or free resources from a sponsoring public school district) or who are enrolled in a Wisconsin-based private-pay academy that is registered with the state as a private school (i.e., AOE) are in different legal categories, by statute, and do not file the PI-1206;
- Children who were between the ages of 6 and 17 by September 1 of this year MUST be tallied on the form. Children who turned 6 on September 2 or later are NOT tallied even if you do academics with them (and the same goes for children younger than 6; they are not tallied no matter what you do academically). Teens who turned 18 before September 1 but are still finishing up their home-based educational program do not “need” to be tallied...BUT we recommend you do tally them so they can have a full record of homeschool enrollment up until they graduate;
- We strongly urge using the UNGRADED option rather than tallying by “grade level” – for at least three reasons: It is completely legal to do so (i.e., it will not raise a “red flag”); it maximizes your kids’ privacy; and it’s probably more accurate (i.e., most of us have our kids working at their real ability levels rather than applying one blanket “grade level”);
- DO plan to download (and then print out) a copy of your filed PI-1206 form every year and save it in a safe digital and physical place, respectively. It’s your responsibility (not the DPI’s) to save evidence that you have filed every year;
- IF you are homeschooling now and have not already filed the PI-1206 for this year, you MUST file by midnight on October 15, by law. If you don’t, your kids will technically be truant and (though officers will not come knocking at your door at 6AM on October 16), you might rightfully be subject to penalty under the state’s truancy laws;
- That said, the page on the DPI website for filing is ALWAYS AVAILABLE. It does NOT close down after October 15. Thus, if you have friends whose kids are in conventional schools right now and they decide sometime after October 15 to begin homeschooling, they can do so IMMEDIATELY simply by filing at PI-1206 at that time.