State guides
What your state actually requires of a small school
110 cited requirements across 11 states, with 245 source citations. This is a sourced reference, not legal advice. Every requirement on this page links to the statute, rule, or state agency document it came from — read the source before you act on it, and confirm with your own counsel or your state agency. Legislatures move: check the “last read” date on each item.
AZ · School-choice program
Arizona
The enrollment affidavit is the parent's job, the immunization file is yours — and the ESA and the homeschool affidavit cannot both exist.
8 cited requirements · 4 dated deadlines · sources as of
UT · School-choice program
Utah
The 2025 overhaul moved the homeschool record-keeping duty onto the school board — and Utah Fits All splits its rules at 150 enrolled students.
10 cited requirements · 5 dated deadlines · sources as of
TX · School-choice program
Texas
No state registration and no education-agency oversight — and then an ESA program that locks out any school under two years old.
7 cited requirements · 3 dated deadlines · sources as of
FL · School-choice program
Florida
One annual survey to open, a daily register whose absence is a criminal offense, and a four-date calendar the moment you take scholarship money.
10 cited requirements · 6 dated deadlines · sources as of
OH · School-choice program
Ohio
Three statuses, and the one you pick decides everything — including whether you can take EdChoice at all.
10 cited requirements · 6 dated deadlines · sources as of
IN · School-choice program
Indiana
A homeschool is legally a nonaccredited nonpublic school, so both run on one statute — and the duty is one line: keep daily attendance.
7 cited requirements · 3 dated deadlines · sources as of
GA · School-choice program
Georgia
Monthly enrollment reports to every district you draw from, a 5:00 p.m. records clock, and a learning-pod statute that forbids the state from regulating you.
14 cited requirements · 9 dated deadlines · sources as of
NC · School-choice program
North Carolina
The most explicit of the eight — notice of intent, attendance and immunization records, grade-banded testing, and the only stated retention period in the set.
11 cited requirements · 6 dated deadlines · sources as of
IA · School-choice program
Iowa
Iowa recognises only accredited private schools. Unaccredited instruction stops at four unrelated students, or needs a licensed teacher and a Form A for every child, and the ESA pays accredited schools only.
12 cited requirements · 10 dated deadlines · sources as of
LA · School-choice program
Louisiana
State approval is optional, but a daily attendance check, a 30-day pupil report and an immunization upload bind every school, and LA GATOR pays only BESE-approved schools, quarter by quarter.
11 cited requirements · 10 dated deadlines · sources as of
SC · School-choice program
South Carolina
A church-related school opens with no state approval at all, every school keeps immunization certificates and files a 45-day summary, and the ESTF pays nonprofits only: $7,634 in four quarters through ClassWallet.
10 cited requirements · 8 dated deadlines · sources as of
If your state isn't one of the eleven
What your state requires, we won't guess at: ask your state education agency. What those requirements ask a school to keep is not state-specific: a daily attendance register, immunization evidence against the list your own state sets, permanent records that stay retrievable after a student leaves or the school closes, and CSV extracts carrying the columns agencies ask for. That side works the same in all fifty.
If your agency or scholarship program insists on its own worksheet, send the template to support@pearspark.com and we add it as a one-click preset. Tell us your state while you're there: the next guides we write are the ones schools ask for.
The part that is the same everywhere
The sequence the decisions bind in, the money arithmetic, and what 250 prelaunch founders said they most needed help with.