Homeschooling a Child with Special Needs in South Dakota: What Parents Need to Know

South Dakota allows parents to homeschool under SDCL 13-27-3, and thousands of families do—including many who are homeschooling specifically because the local public school could not or would not meet their child's special education needs. If you are homeschooling a child with a disability in South Dakota, or considering it, the intersection of homeschool law and special education law is something you need to understand clearly.

The short version: your child does not lose their right to certain special education services just because you homeschool. But what the district is required to provide—and how much—is significantly more limited than what they must provide to enrolled students.

Child Find Still Applies to Homeschooled Children

Under SDCL 13-37 and federal IDEA, South Dakota school districts are required to identify, locate, and evaluate all children with disabilities who reside within their jurisdiction—including children who receive alternative instruction (homeschooling). This is called the Child Find obligation, and it does not disappear when you withdraw your child from public school.

In practice, this means:

• If you suspect your homeschooled child has a disability, you can request an evaluation from the local school district at no cost to you
• The district must conduct the evaluation using the same standards and timelines as for enrolled students (25 school days after consent)
• The evaluation is free

Child Find applies even if you have never enrolled your child in public school. The district cannot refuse to evaluate a homeschooled child simply because they are not enrolled.

What Services Can Homeschooled Children Access?

Here is where the law diverges significantly from the public school experience. Under IDEA's parentally placed private school provisions—which South Dakota applies to homeschooled children—the district's obligations are much more limited.

For enrolled public school students, IDEA requires the full package: a comprehensive IEP, FAPE, and all necessary services. For parentally placed students (including homeschooled students), the district has a "child find" and evaluation obligation, but it is not required to provide FAPE or a full IEP.

Instead, the district must spend a proportionate share of its federal IDEA funds on services for eligible parentally placed children in the district. How that money is allocated is determined by the district after consulting with parents—but the district has significant discretion in deciding which children receive services and what services they receive. This is called a Service Plan (sometimes called an "ISP" or Individual Services Plan), which is different from and less legally binding than an IEP.

What this means practically:

• Your homeschooled child may be eligible for some services (speech therapy, OT, reading support), but not necessarily all services they would receive in a public school IEP
• The district is not required to provide FAPE—only to spend its proportionate share of IDEA funds on eligible homeschooled children
• You cannot force the district to provide the full public school special education program to your homeschooled child

Why Some Families Homeschool Because of IEP Failures

A significant number of South Dakota families homeschool specifically because the public school system failed their child. This includes families whose children were repeatedly suspended, families in rural districts where no specialists were available, and families on reservations where BIE school conditions were unacceptable.

If you are homeschooling in response to a district's failure to provide FAPE, you may still have legal claims against the district—including potential reimbursement for costs you incurred. Unilateral withdrawal from public school does not automatically forfeit your rights under IDEA, but it does complicate them. The timing and circumstances of your withdrawal matter.

If you withdrew your child because the district was violating their IEP, consult Disability Rights South Dakota (DRSD) at 1-800-658-4782 before taking any further action. An attorney or advocate can help you understand whether you have a compensatory education claim for the period the district was non-compliant, even after you withdrew.

If You Want to Return to Public School

When a homeschooled child with a disability re-enrolls in a South Dakota public school, the district must provide comparable services to any existing service plan while it conducts a new evaluation and develops a full IEP (if the child is eligible). The same transfer rules that apply to students moving from another district apply here.

Do not allow the district to claim they need months to complete a new evaluation before any services begin. The comparable services requirement exists precisely to prevent service gaps during transitions.

Accessing Evaluations Without Re-Enrolling

You can request an evaluation from the district for your homeschooled child without any intention to re-enroll. The results of the evaluation can help you:

• Access speech, OT, or other services through the district's proportionate share obligation
• Understand your child's specific needs and learning profile
• Inform your homeschool curriculum choices
• Build a record if you later decide to re-enroll and request a full IEP

Send your evaluation request in writing to the Special Education Director of your resident school district. The letter should identify your child by name and age, state that you are currently homeschooling under SDCL 13-27-3, and request a comprehensive special education evaluation. Once you consent, the 25-school-day timeline begins.

South Dakota's Rural Context: Limited Services Even When Available

Even when a homeschooled child qualifies for services under the proportionate share provisions, delivery can be complicated by the same rural geography that affects enrolled students. Itinerant specialists from regional cooperatives may have limited scheduling availability, and the district's proportionate share may not stretch very far in low-funding rural districts.

Be specific in your Service Plan negotiations about what services you are seeking, at what frequency, and in what format. Some families in rural areas negotiate for services delivered at the district school on specific days—essentially a hybrid arrangement. This can work well when the district is cooperative, though it is not legally required if you are homeschooling.

The South Dakota IEP & 504 Advocacy Playbook at /us/south-dakota/advocacy/ includes guidance on navigating the Child Find process as a homeschool parent, understanding the difference between a Service Plan and an IEP, and accessing the district evaluations you're entitled to—even if you have no intention of returning to public school.

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