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Texas homeschool law

Notice, days or hours, subjects, testing and records, in plain words, with the source for each.

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

Checked on against the sources linked on this page.

What to file in Texas

Checked October 31, 2026. Law change: Education Code section 1.010 (House Bill 2674) says the TEA, the State Board of Education and other state-supported educational institutions may not adopt a rule or policy that regulates a home school's educational program. It was added by the 2025 legislature, effective September 1, 2025.

File
Nothing. Texas asks for no notice to the state or the school district. §
To
No one. A district that learns your child is home schooled may ask for a letter saying so; the TEA says it need not be yearly. §
By
No date. §
Keep
No record-keeping rule. Many families keep attendance and a book list anyway, for a move back to school. §
Test
None required. A district may test a child who later enrolls, for placement or credit. §
Starting this year
  • Only if the district asks: A district that learns your child may be home schooled can ask in writing for a letter of assurance that your child is being home schooled. It is not needed every year.
Already homeschooling
  • Only if the district asks: A district that learns your child may be home schooled can ask in writing for a letter of assurance that your child is being home schooled. It is not needed every year.
Leaving a school mid-year
  • When you take your child out: Give the school written notice: a signed withdrawal form or a letter. You do not have to appear in person or show your curriculum.

A school should dis-enroll a student when it gets written notice, such as a signed withdrawal form or a letter; the TEA says parents do not have to appear in person or present curriculum. Home-schooled students can enter public school at any time. Many districts check what a student has learned to decide grade placement or credit, and the TEA says students from home schools should be treated like students from unaccredited private schools.

Open your attendance recordNo letter needed.Start the Tap Clock, if you want to

What Texas's law asks you to keep, as tools: Attendance. The same rows for every state: what to file, by state.

Checked . § = source: Texas Education Agency: Home Schools policy letter (Commissioner); Texas Education Agency: Home Schooling. Information, not legal advice.

Quick answers

Notice
No noticeTexas does not ask you to register or send notice to the state or the school district. A school district that learns a child may be home schooled can ask for a letter from the parents saying they are home schooling. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) says a district letter like that is not required each year. Checked October 27, 2026. Source: Texas Education Agency: Home Schools policy letter (Commissioner)
Days or hours
No number givenWe found no required number of days or hours in the Education Code or on the TEA's home schooling page. State law says the Texas Education Agency and State Board of Education may not adopt a rule or policy that regulates the educational program of a home school (Education Code 1.010). Checked October 27, 2026. Source: Texas Education Code chapter 1, section 1.010 (legislature)
Subjects
The TEA says parents must follow a course of study that includes good citizenship. A TEA policy letter says a district may ask for assurance that the home-school curriculum is designed to meet basic education goals including reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics, and a study of good citizenship. Checked October 27, 2026. Source: Texas Education Agency: Home Schools policy letter (Commissioner), Texas Education Agency: Home Schooling
Testing or evaluation
No testing requiredWe found no state testing or evaluation requirement for home schools. A student who later enrolls in a public school may be tested by the district to place them or give credit; the TEA's 2019 policy letter suggests a nationally recognized norm-referenced test or a released STAAR test for elementary students, and credit-by-examination for secondary students. Checked October 27, 2026. Source: Texas Education Agency: Home Schools policy letter (Commissioner)
Records
We found no record-keeping rule for home schools in the Education Code or on the TEA's home schooling page. The TEA says it does not regulate, monitor, approve, register or accredit home school programs, and state law bars it from adopting a rule that regulates a home school's educational program. Checked October 27, 2026. Source: Texas Education Agency: Home Schooling
Who must attend school
A child who is at least six (or younger and already enrolled in first grade) and has not yet reached the 19th birthday must attend school (Education Code 25.085). Texas treats a home school like a private school for this rule, because of a 1994 Texas Supreme Court ruling (Leeper v. Arlington ISD), not because the statute names home schools. Source: Texas Education Code chapter 25 (legislature)
Education savings accounts and vouchers
A program is open to homeschool familiesTexas Education Freedom Accounts (run by the state Comptroller) cover homeschooled children. An awarded child who is homeschooled receives $2,000 a year for approved education expenses. The official site says applications for 2026-27 closed March 31, 2026 and are no longer accepted; awards beyond available funding were by lottery. We did not find the official page saying taking the money changes a family's home-school status. Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA). What taking the money changes, in full. Source: Texas Comptroller: Education Freedom Accounts FAQ, Texas Comptroller: Texas Education Freedom Accounts (program site), Texas Education Freedom Accounts: Families, Texas Education Freedom Accounts: Providers and vendors

What to do first

  1. Read Texas's own pages, linked under each row below, so you know what applies to your situation.
  2. Notice: Texas does not ask for one on the homeschool route described here. Keep your own record of the date you began.
  3. If your child is in school now: A school should dis-enroll a student when it gets written notice, such as a signed withdrawal form or a letter; the TEA says parents do not have to appear in person or present curriculum. Home-schooled students can enter public school at any time. Many districts check what a student has learned to decide grade placement or credit, and the TEA says students from home schools should be treated like students from unaccredited private schools.
  4. Plan the year around the days or hours and the subjects below.
  5. Start your records on day one: a simple attendance log, a list of books read and a work sample or two for each subject.

Records to keep

We found no record-keeping rule for home schools in the Education Code or on the TEA's home schooling page. The TEA says it does not regulate, monitor, approve, register or accredit home school programs, and state law bars it from adopting a rule that regulates a home school's educational program. Whatever the law asks, many families also keep a simple attendance log, a list of books read and a few work samples for each subject; they cost nothing and help if you move or return to school.

Good to know

  • Law change: Education Code section 1.010 (House Bill 2674) says the TEA, the State Board of Education and other state-supported educational institutions may not adopt a rule or policy that regulates a home school's educational program. It was added by the 2025 legislature, effective September 1, 2025.
  • The State of Texas does not award a diploma to a home-schooled student, but the TEA says Texas colleges must treat a home school graduate to the same general standards as a public high school graduate.
  • A 2019 TEA policy letter says whether compulsory attendance has been violated should be decided by the school district or local judicial authorities, and that a parent withdrawing a child to home school does not have to appear in person or present curriculum for review.

Where this comes from

Checked on October 27, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice; check your state's own page, and confirm with your school district or the department before you rely on a date. Something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.