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Withdrawing from school to homeschool in Georgia

How to take your child out of school to homeschool in Georgia, step by step: what to file first, what to tell the school, and a letter to print.

This is general information, not legal advice; check your state's own page. Laws change, and Georgia's own statute and education department are the final word. The links below go straight to them.

Deadlines, forms and amounts checked on against the sources linked on this page.

Step by step

  1. Before your child's last day, do what Georgia asks of a new homeschool. Within 30 days of starting: File a Declaration of Intent with the Georgia Department of Education (online, or by email, fax or mail), not the local district. The state's form: Declaration of Intent (online, Georgia Department of Education).Source: GaDOE: Georgia Home School, information about home study programs (August 2025)
  2. Tell the school. Within 45 days of leaving a public school: The local school system must have proof of home school enrollment within 45 days; your Declaration of Intent is that proof.Source: GaDOE: Georgia Home School, information about home study programs (August 2025)
  3. Ask for your child's records (report cards, test results, any evaluations or plans) so you know where your child stands. Good practice, not a legal step.
  4. If your child has an IEP or a 504 plan, ask the district before you leave what, if anything, it offers homeschooled students, and get a copy of the plan. Good practice, not a legal step.
  5. Keep copies of everything you send and anything you get back, with the dates. Good practice, not a legal step.
  6. Start your records on day one. The teaching parent writes an annual progress report for each student covering reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies and science, and keeps each report for at least three years. Keep the nationally standardized test scores and records too.Source: GaDOE: Georgia Home School, information about home study programs (August 2025)

What Georgia's law or education agency says about leaving school

When a child leaves a Georgia public school for home study, the local school system must have proof of home school enrollment within 45 days; the Declaration of Intent satisfies this. A child returning to public school is placed and given credit by the local school system, which follows State Board of Education Rule 160-5-1-.15 and may add its own policies.Source: GaDOE: Georgia Home School, information about home study programs (August 2025)

A letter to the school

Fill this in and print it. It tells the school your child is leaving to be taught at home and asks for the records. It is not the state's notice.

For example a copy of your notice, or the acknowledgement the state sent you.

Nothing you type here is saved or sent.

Your letter

________________

To: ________________

I am withdrawing ________________ from your school. My child will be educated at home under the law of Georgia.

Please send me a copy of my child's school records.

Thank you.

SignatureDate
Keep a copy with the date you handed it in or mailed it.

Where this comes from

Checked on October 29, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. Laws and forms change; confirm a date with your school district or the state agency before you rely on it. For legal advice, ask a lawyer licensed in Georgia; homeschool legal-help organizations and your state's homeschool groups can also point you to help. Something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.