Introducing the School Starter Checklist

There are a lot of misconceptions about private schools. A popular one is that private schools operate in a lawless, devil-may-care, world of no regulation. As our new resource, the School Starter Checklist, makes very clear, this is not at all the case.

The dense thicket of regulations governing private schools can be quite a headache for educational entrepreneurs looking to launch new schools. Understanding what is required of them, how to report necessary information to the appropriate authorities, and what they are and are not allowed to do is not always easy to find.

That is why we created the School Starter Checklist, to place all the major regulatory requirements for private schools in one place. It has dedicated pages for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, reporting on regulations across multiple dimensions, including requirements for state approval or accreditation, mandated school year length, curriculum requirements, and a host of others.

How did we do it?

Our research partners at Hanover Research assembled a comprehensive list of state regulations and legislation pertaining to private schools by conducting a broad search of statutes and regulatory documents. Hanover prioritized sources such as state departments of education and state codes before resorting to other sources. Where state sources were not available, Hanover relied on the U.S. Department of Education’s State Regulation of Private and Home Schools map.

While the primary value of this report is to serve as a first point of reference for those curious about what states require of private schools, there are a few trends that are worth highlighting.

First, the majority of states have established private school regulations for compulsory attendance, length of school year and day, curriculum, health and safety requirements, transportation, and recordkeeping and reports. For the 43 states that place regulations on private school days of instruction, the number of days students are expected to attend school ranges from 148 to 180. The 43 states that place specific regulations surrounding curriculum typically require private schools to offer specific content areas of study and to report on what curriculum they use.

The majority of states do not provide information regarding non-profit or for-profit status, commercial space requirements, liability insurance regulations, or reimbursement for performing state and local functions. Generally, states do not directly say that private schools need to be non-profit. Even in places where states mention non-profit or for-profit status, they might not do so directly. States might, for example, refer to private schools as “non-profit” in other statutes or regulations, but not have one definitive statement that schools must be so. Some states, such as Missouri, Louisiana, and Georgia, require private schools to be non-profit to meet approval regulations or participate in equitable services provided to private school students.

The majority of state regulations on accreditation are optional. While most states require registration (34 states), approval (25 states), and licensing (38 states) of private schools, accreditation in 35 states is optional for private schools. Additionally, states may allow private schools to receive third-party accreditation rather than state accreditation. Some states, such as Hawaii and Indiana, require private schools to be accredited, recognized, or licensed, but the choice of which to acquire is left to the private school.

Some state regulations are required based on outside factors, other regulations, or participation in a private school choice program. For example, Georgia private schools that participate in the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship (GSNS) program are required to employ certified teachers and participate in state testing. Missouri private schools that participate in federal and state grant programs must register with their respective states. Montana’s accredited private schools are also required to administer state testing to meet accreditation regulations. In Massachusetts, school approval committees determine whether private schools can operate and require that private school instruction is equally “thorough and efficient” when compared to local public schools.

Overall, states are less likely to have descriptive regulations surrounding virtual and micro-schools compared to private schools. In total 26 states have established some level of virtual or online instruction regulations, and only 11 have publicly shared regulations for microschools or learning pods.

Potential school starters need to familiarize themselves with the regulations in the states in which they wish to operate. While we would certainly not claim that the school starter checklist is the definitive source of private school regulations, we hope it is a good starting point.