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Kentucky homeschool laws and recordkeeping

Reviewed against primary sources 2026-07-26 · next review due 2026-10-26

Kentucky homeschools operate as private schools. The formal steps are an annual notification letter to your district superintendent within the first two weeks of the school year, an attendance record, and scholarship reports documenting courses and grades. Those records must be open to inspection. The state cannot prescribe your curriculum.

LEGAL STATUS

A Kentucky homeschool is a private school under the compulsory-attendance exemption in KRS 159.030(1)(b). Under Section 5 of the Kentucky Constitution and the Kentucky Supreme Court's Rudasill decision (589 S.W.2d 877, Ky. 1979), the state may not prescribe curriculum, teacher certification, or accreditation for these schools.

What Kentucky requires

Notification

Send a letter to the superintendent of your local school district within the first two weeks of the school year, or within two weeks of withdrawing from public school, and resubmit it every year. It must list the names, ages, and home address of each child attending.

Source: KRS 159.160; KRS 159.030(1)(b); KDE Homeschool Information Packet

Compulsory ages

Compulsory attendance covers children from six to sixteen. Local boards may extend the requirement to age eighteen by district policy, so check your district.

Source: KRS 159.010

Attendance records

Keep an attendance record. The statute references a register provided by the state board; KDE accepts attendance kept in any consistent format, digital or paper. Records must be open to inspection by the district's Director of Pupil Personnel and KDE officials.

Source: KRS 159.040; KDE Homeschool Information Packet, question 7

Scholarship reports

Keep scholarship reports documenting the courses each student completed and the grade awarded. KDE recommends detailed records, including portfolios of work samples by year, though individual work samples are not statutorily required.

Source: KRS 159.040; KDE Homeschool Information Packet, question 7

School term

Certified homeschools must deliver at least 1,062 instructional hours across at least 170 attendance days. Non-certified homeschools, which is most homeschools, have no statutory minimum term, and KDE recommends meeting those same minimums.

Source: KRS 158.070; KRS 158.080; KDE Homeschool Information Packet, question 6

Curriculum

Families choose and supply their own curriculum. The state does not prescribe subjects for homeschools and does not accredit them; the Kentucky Academic Standards are available as an optional reference.

Source: Ky. Const. sec. 5; Rudasill, 589 S.W.2d 877 (Ky. 1979); KDE Homeschool Information Packet

Diplomas and returning to public school

Homeschools issue their own diplomas; there is no statewide diploma. If a student returns to public school, the district assigns grade placement and awards prior credit by examination or by successful performance in the next sequential course.

Source: KDE Homeschool Information Packet, questions 10 and 13; 704 KAR 3:307

Where hearth fits

Kentucky asks for exactly the two record types hearth is being built around: attendance and course-with-grade scholarship reports, kept ready for inspection. hearth is in development; the waitlist hears first when the records loop opens.

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Primary sources

This page is informational, not legal advice. Requirements change; verify against the linked primary sources or your district before acting.