Home Schools
Science Olympiad National Policy on Home School Team Qualification
A Team Endeavor
Science Olympiad requires all participants in Science Olympiad competitions to participate as members of a team, not as individuals.
Public School Students
Public school students may participate in Science Olympiad only as members of a team that is formed in the local public school that they attend. In the case of 9th graders, public school students may compete on the team from the middle school that they most recently attended. Public school students may not opt to participate on another school’s team.
Private or Charter School Students
Private schools, “governor” schools and charter schools may create Science Olympiad teams from any student in their student body, regardless of where their homes of origin are located. They may not solicit or enlist either public school or home-schooled students on their teams.
Home-Schooled Students
Option 1 - Participation through a Local Public School If the state in which a home schooled student resides allows home schools students to participate in public school activities, home schooled students may either (1) choose to participate as a member of the Science Olympiad team at the local public school they would attend were they not home schooled, or (2) form a home school team as set forth in Option #2, below.
Option 2 - Participation through a Home School Team Science Olympiad will recognize Home School Teams consisting only of students who live within the boundaries of two contiguous (side-by-side) geographic counties in a single state. Science Olympiad will permit existing multi-county and multi-state Home School Teams to participate in Science Olympiad events for a period of three years from the date this policy is adopted. As of July 20, 2011, the two-contiguous-county/single state policy will apply to all Science Olympiad Home School Teams who wish to attend to the 2012 Science Olympiad National Tournament and Science Olympiad will no longer qualify multi-county or multi-state Home School Teams.
Registering and Qualifying Teams
The state Science Olympiad organization is responsible for registering and qualifying all Science Olympiad teams. In the case of a public school Science Olympiad team, a roster signed by the principal of the school is considered proper validation. In the case of a Home School Team, a roster signed by the President of the home school association or the head of the independent home school is considered proper validation.
Investigation of Team Qualifications
If a state Science Olympiad organization suspects that a team is comprised of students who are not members of that school’s student body or that the Home School Team is not legitimate, the Science Olympiad State Director may ask the coach to provide verification of that team’s qualifications as follows:
- A public, private or charter school student’s qualification may be verified by some form of school identification, school roster, recent report card, evidence of residence in the school district or other similar documents appropriate to the situation.
- A home-schooled student’s qualification may be verified by the student’s annual notice of intent to home school and some proof of residency within two contiguous designated counties.
State Directors or officials may NOT contact individual home-schooled students to determine Home School Team validity. All inquires must go through the registered Home School Team coach, President of the association or the head of the independent home school.
Sanctions for Non-Qualified Participation
If, after investigation, the State Director determines that a team or its members are not qualified, it may impose a sanction that may include disqualification of a student team member, disqualification of a team coach, or a team’s disqualification from a tournament. In the event of multiple cases of disqualification, a coach or team may be barred from future competition.
Science Olympiad Executive Board