LBPSB do unfortunately have a reputation of being one of the most hostile towards homeschooling. I don’t know the specifics of your situation, so I can’t tell you whether they have justification to report you to the DYP. It may be an empty threat designed to frighten you into following their procedures, which are not necessarily required by law. However they may feel they have a good case, and you may hear from the Youth Protection in the future.

It’s best to be prepared should the situation arise, as I’ve known families who were reported even by neighbours & family members. Document everything - your educational activities, and the communications you have with the board. It will help you if you have to deal with the DYP or if you seek assistance from a lawyer. It does seem odd that the board would immediately reply to your letter of intent with a threat to report you, though. If something is not in order the Ministry expects them to work with you to correct the situation - not to jump right to a report of educational neglect! If you’ve just begun homeschooling this fall, I wonder just what they can have to complain about. Their main concern is usually assessment, which they seem to leave until June each year.

Best of luck!
Ruby

We are homeschooling our 12 yr old. We sent in our letter of intent to the LBPSB and they have responded by sending us a letter warning us of their obligation to report us to Child Services. Is this simply a veiled threat or is there a legal standpoint that they have to do this?
I did inform them of our rights pursuant to Section 15(4) already in the letter of intent. Any information or reply would be appreciated.

Regards Josh

I will try to eat only fresh, organic when possible and locally grown when possible. It seems as if there is an all out covert effort by manufactures and government to poison us all. I don’t usually react so strongly to such things but let’s get real and find ways to fight this ridiculousness.

We have a right to be safe when we buy products.

Are there any groups that have been formed to lobby government to protect people from these dangers instead of protecting corporations without consciences?

The document “La Scolarisation à Domicile” is not made available to the general public by the MELS. It was sent out to school boards by the MELS and was referred to in some of the public documents that discussed homeschooling, but it seems it was treated like some sort of top secret material that should not be leaked to the public. I remember a discussion in which a homeschooling parent said she had sneaked a peek at a copy her friend (a teacher) had been given, but the friend was actually quite afraid to let anyone know she had given access to it.

I got my copy from AQED’s web site a little while back. Many of the posts that were on the old web site disappeared when they switched over to the new site, but they may have restored them since the last time I looked. Take a look around their discussion forum & see if you can’t find anything in their “Legal” rubric. Pierre Campagna had some good posts there about the various legalities of homeschooling that are well worth reading if you can find them.

Please keep in mind that Bill 101 addresses the language of instruction for public schools and for accredited private schools only. From the English text available at the OLF web site:

“Instruction in the kindergarten classes and in the elementary and secondary schools shall be in French, except where this chapter allows otherwise.

“This rule obtains in school bodies within the meaning of the Schedule and in private educational institutions accredited for purposes of subsidies under the Act respecting private education (chapter E-9.1) with respect to the educational services covered by an accreditation.”

~ Charter of the French Language, Title I, Chapter VIII, paragraph 72

As you can see, the law does not require that children be educated in French but rather that schools adopt French as the language of instruction. A homeschooling family is not a school under the law, and therefore is not required to teach primarily in French. That being said a homeschooled child must be given an equivalent to school education, which assumes that the child would easily be able to integrate into a public or private school with few or no adaptations. If your child has no certificate of eligibility integration means going to a French school.

Based on that fact some school authorities may try to tell you that you must homeschool in French, but you can counter that if you were arriving from outside the province your child would have been taught in English or perhaps some other language. Any adaptations your child might require if s/he integrated into a public or private school would be exactly the same as those needed by any other student who had previously been schooled in a language other than French. This is not an issue of your homeschooling being inadequate, and as your homeschool is not a school under the law Bill 101 does not apply to you.

Hope this helps!
Ruby