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Withdrawing from school to homeschool in Texas

How to take your child out of school to homeschool in Texas, 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 Texas'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 Texas asks of a new homeschool. 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.Source: Texas Education Agency: Home Schools policy letter (Commissioner)
  2. Tell the school. 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.Source: Texas Education Agency: Home Schools policy letter (Commissioner); Texas Education Agency: Home Schooling
  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. 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.Source: Texas Education Agency: Home Schooling

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

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.Source: Texas Education Agency: Home Schools policy letter (Commissioner); Texas Education Agency: Home Schooling

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 Texas.

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 Texas; 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.