Home School Student Ordered to Public School -- 11/12/1998

Home School Student Ordered to Public School

12 November, 1998

By Ben Anderson
CNS Staff Writer

(CNS) –Rather than allow a Virginia couple to home school their daughter, a state judge has ordered a Mennonite couple to send their daughter to public school.

The couple's 15-year old daughter began running away from home, vandalized her bedroom and brought home a knife – soon after associating with students at a nearby public school.

They chose to educate their children at home, secure in their own Mennonite faith. When their daughter's troubles escalated to the point she revealed the knife to her father, the couple called the local police, thinking the experience would frighten her away from rebellion. They sought the help of the police thinking the experience would discourage their daughter from running with the wrong crowd. Their best intentions backfired.

Little did they expect that the local government would turn a domestic family matter into an issue for the courts. Home School Defense Association President Mike Farris told CNS the family is embarrassed that a private issue has become so public.

The family turned down a CNS request for an interview and requested through Farris their names not be used in this story.

Juvenile and Domestic Court Judge Burke McCahill, however, ordered the student to attend a public high school, sending her back into the environment which the parents believe may have influenced her in the first place.

Farris said he's been dealing with home school cases for fifteen years. "This is the first time I've seen anything like this," he said. "The judge substituted his judgement for the parents, when education was never the issue," Farris told CNS citing a previous Virginia case which said there must be proof of harm done for the court to intervene. In this case, Farris said the parents have done nothing wrong.

Although Farris said he is not the lead counsel for the case, he believes McCahill's decision will be overturned when the appeal is heard December 7,1998.

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