LA GATOR and Louisiana Homeschooling: Why Home Study Students Can't Join and What Home-Based Education Means

If you homeschool in Louisiana, you have probably heard two things about LA GATOR that sound like they contradict each other. One: homeschoolers can't use it. Two: families are using LA GATOR money to educate kids at home. Both are true, and the difference comes down to which legal category your child is in.

What the statute says

Here is the sentence that matters, from R.S. 17:4037.7(C):

"A student shall not participate in this program concurrently with a home study program approved by the state board or a home study program registered with the department as a nonpublic school not seeking state approval, the Course Choice Program, or the School Choice Program for Certain Students with Exceptionalities."

The BESE rule on LDOE's LA GATOR policy page repeats that rule as an attestation every applicant signs, and adds another: the applicant agrees to immediately disenroll from LA GATOR upon enrollment in a public school, home study program, Course Choice Program, or the School Choice Program for Certain Students with Exceptionalities.

So the bar is on doing both at once. It does not say a family that has homeschooled can never join. But it does mean a child cannot be in an approved home study program, or registered with a nonpublic school not seeking state approval, while drawing LA GATOR funds.

Louisiana's two homeschool categories

LDOE describes two ways families independently educate their children:

• BESE-approved home study. Under R.S. 17:236.1, a parent applies to BESE within fifteen days after the program starts, and renews by October 1 of the school year or within twelve months of approval of the initial application, whichever is later. Under R.S. 17:236, a home study program shall be approved if it offers "a sustained curriculum of a quality at least equal to that offered by public schools at the same grade level." LDOE's home study page says state funding is not available for parents with students in a BESE-approved home study program.
• Nonpublic school not seeking state approval. LDOE's page on these schools says they have either not met the criteria for approval or do not want it, and that they submit enrollment information through an annual attendance submission. Many Louisiana homeschool families operate this way.

Both are named in the LA GATOR statute, so neither can run alongside an account.

Where Home-based Education comes from

Here is the part to read carefully. The phrase Home-based Education does not appear in the definitions of the LA GATOR statute, R.S. 17:4037.3, or in the definitions section of the BESE rule we reviewed. It is the name of an educational setting option inside the Odyssey platform. Odyssey's eligible schools and programs article defines it this way:

"Students must receive education primarily or partially from home from an approved LA GATOR service provider available on the Odyssey marketplace. LA GATOR funds can't be used for tuition and fees."

The same article adds that the term "is used to refer to the option that families have in LA GATOR to educate their children primarily at home by utilizing service providers."

The legal basis sits in the statute even without the label. Section 4037.7(B) lets a participating student take part "through in-person education, virtual education, or a hybrid approach," and says the parent's signed agreement satisfies the compulsory attendance law, R.S. 17:221. Act 1 also amended R.S. 17:236 so that, for compulsory attendance purposes, a child participating in LA GATOR is considered in attendance at a day school.

What changes if you switch

A Home-based Education student is a LA GATOR participant, not a home study student. That brings program obligations a traditional homeschool does not have:

• You still teach at least English language arts, math, social studies and science.
• Your child takes an approved reading and math test every year. LDOE says students in BESE-approved home study are not required to take state assessments, but LA GATOR students are. The approved list is in Odyssey's testing article.
• When you pick Home-based Education in Odyssey, you are asked to choose the assessment your child will take. The BESE rule says participating students not enrolled in a nonpublic school must set aside funds to cover the test's cost.
• Spending runs through the Odyssey marketplace from approved providers. No reimbursement for your own purchases.
• Attendance failures are reported by the participating school or service provider to the state child welfare and attendance director.

Leaving works in the other direction too. The BESE rule lets a participating student voluntarily withdraw from LA GATOR at any time by following LDOE's procedures. The account is then closed and any remaining funds go back to the state. A family that wants to return to BESE-approved home study after that would go back through the home study application process with BESE.

Getting out of home study to join

If LDOE's records show your child in a home study program, Odyssey puts the student in an Approved - On Hold status. Odyssey's on-hold article lays out the fix: select Home-based Education in Odyssey, then withdraw from the BESE-approved home study program or the nonpublic school not seeking state approval using LDOE's withdrawal form. The home study coordinator withdraws the student and sends a letter; keep it.

A family weighing it

The Guidrys in Houma have run a BESE-approved home study for six years. Their youngest is entering kindergarten, which is an eligibility path on its own. They realized that taking LA GATOR for her would mean leaving home study for her, picking Home-based Education, testing her every spring and buying through the marketplace. They decided the account was worth it for the youngest, and kept the older two in home study. Each child is assessed separately.

(A composite example — names and details are illustrative, drawn from situations homeschool families commonly describe.)

Questions to ask before you switch

• Is the curriculum or tutor you already use approved in the Odyssey marketplace?
• Are you comfortable with annual testing and the reporting that comes with it?
• For high schoolers, how do diplomas, transcripts and TOPS work in each path? LDOE is required to tell families of participating students in grades 8 through 12 about TOPS eligibility requirements, so ask for that notice in writing.

Our LA GATOR Scholarship guide covers the program as a whole, and Louisiana homeschool families trade notes in our community.

My Learning Source is an independent marketplace and is not affiliated with the Louisiana Department of Education, the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, Odyssey or the LA GATOR Scholarship Program. Home study and LA GATOR rules can change — confirm your child's status and options with LDOE before you withdraw from any program. Family examples are composites, not real individuals.