Homeschool Requirements in Rhode Island

Rhode Island asks for more than most places do. There is more of it here than in most states, and the dates do not move. It is all doable once it is written down in one place, and that is what this page is. Read the deadlines first; the rest can wait until you have them in a calendar.

What you file, and by when

The school committee of the town where the child resides has to approve the program before it starts. R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-19-1 exempts a child who has attended “a course of at-home instruction approved by the school committee of the town where the child resides.” Parents submit an at-home instruction plan to the local school committee, in practice through the superintendent, and must be approved before beginning. Most districts require annual re-approval, which is local practice rather than statute. There is no statewide form or deadline; RIDE states that approval of at-home instruction occurs exclusively at the local district level and that the Department does not directly supervise at-home instruction, so district interpretations vary a great deal. Anyone aggrieved by a school committee’s approval or denial may appeal to the Commissioner and the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education under § 16-19-2.

Days or hours

Instruction for “substantially the same amount of time” as public schools, i.e., at least 180 days. RI public schools must provide 1,080 hours annually (5.5 hours/day x 180 days), which districts commonly apply as the benchmark. Homeschoolers need not follow the public school calendar.

Meeting those hours and turning them into credits are two different jobs. How to count a high school credit when you never used a textbook.

Subjects you must cover

Reading, writing, geography, arithmetic, the history of the United States, the history of Rhode Island, and the principles of American government, all taught in the English language substantially to the same extent as they are required to be taught in the public schools (R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-19-2(3)). The statutory standard is that the teaching be “thorough and efficient.” Health and physical education come in indirectly: § 16-22-4 bars approving a private school as substantially equivalent unless instruction in health and physical education similar to that required in public schools is given, which for public schools is at least 20 minutes of each school day. RIDE also lists civics alongside health and physical education in its guidance.

Records you keep

An attendance register is required by statute, kept in the same manner as registers kept by the public schools. R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-19-2(2) names four recipients: the registers are “kept and returned to the school committee, the superintendent of schools, truant officers, and the department of elementary and secondary education.” Keep the approval letter, the register, and whatever progress documentation the approved plan commits you to.

Those are the pages underneath the transcript rather than the transcript itself. The Records Pack has the attendance and hours log and the portfolio index as editable forms.

Testing or evaluation

No statewide standardized testing mandate. The evaluation method is set by mutual agreement between the parent and the school committee as part of the approved plan; some districts request testing, portfolio review, or periodic progress reports. Testing, where agreed, may occur at home or at the public school.

Diplomas and transcripts

No state-recognized homeschool diploma; districts do not issue diplomas or transcripts to home-instructed students. Parents issue their own. No state-mandated high-school credit distribution for homeschoolers. Because approval is per-town and annual, high-school families should secure written approval each year and retain the approval letters as the de facto proof of a lawful program. No ESA/voucher program for homeschoolers.

A diploma you signed yourself gets read against the transcript behind it. What a college actually does with a homeschool transcript.

Where this comes from

Statute: R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-19-1 (compulsory attendance) and § 16-19-2 (at-home instruction; school committee approval; subjects; attendance records)

Source: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE16/16-19/16-19-2.htm

Last reviewed: July 2026, on the 26th.

Homeschool law changes, and a page like this goes stale without saying so. Before a filing deadline, read the statute above for yourself. If we are behind, we would rather hear it from you than have you find out at the district office.

All fifty states and DC, each with its statute cited.

Filing is one half of it. Keeping the records is the other, and that is what our Records System is for: the editable transcript with the GPA already wired, 131 course descriptions, and this same statute-cited summary for all fifty states and DC. Thirty-nine dollars, one household, however many children you have.