DOES THE PSA ALLOW THE STATE OR SCHOOL DISTRICT TO SUPERVISE THE PRIVATE SCHOOL?

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No. The private school affidavit is a simple form that notifies the state of the existence of a private school. It is not a license given by the state: The state does not approve, evaluate, recognize, endorse, or supervise your private school in any way. The affidavit is merely a device by which the Department of Education’s Demographics Unit keeps track of the number of school children in California.

 

The affidavit form itself is a public document available from the California Department of Education.  It is completed and submitted online by most schools, but can also be submitted in paper form, either using the Department's form or a "statement in lieu" that contains all of the information required by law.  Because the Department's form is a public document, the state cannot refuse to give families the form or refuse to accept their completed form.

 

Private schools must offer instruction "in the several branches of study required to be taught in the public schools" (see Ed Code sections 51210 and 51220), but how those subjects are taught is determined by the private school. There is no provision in the law that authorizes or requires that local school districts or any other state agency supervise or approve of the instruction given in private schools.

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