Homeschooling in Maine
What the law requires, what you file and when, and what to keep — with the statute behind each rule.
What Maine requires
- Notify
- Superintendent (school officials) of the administrative unit where the child lives. Statute also names the Commissioner, but Maine DOE now says to file only with the resident superintendent, preferably through the online Home Instruction Portal. — First year: within 10 calendar days of beginning home instruction (by Sept 1 if starting with the school year). Later years: by Sept 1. (annual)
- Testing or evaluation
- Required. Annual, filed with each continuing year's letter (not required with the first-year notice).
- Subjects set by the state
- Yes — 10 required subjects, listed below
- Teaching time
- 175 days — in detail
- Compulsory school age
- 6 to 17 — in detail
- Records
- Keep copies of all notices and assessments filed until home instruction ends; they must be made available to the Commissioner on request.
Taking your child out of school in Maine
First move: File the Notice of Intent within 10 days of withdrawing (portal or paper form to the resident superintendent).
Days already attended at school count toward the 175-day requirement. Notify the superintendent if the child later exits home instruction, graduates or moves.
The legal routes
2 routes exist in Maine. They carry different duties, and families often do not know the alternatives to the obvious one.
- Home instruction program (20-A M.R.S. §5001-A(3)(A)(4))
- File a Notice of Intent within 10 days of starting, teach the required subjects for 175 days, and file an annual letter with an assessment each Sept 1.
- Private school recognized as providing equivalent instruction
- A non-approved private school (HSLDA's 'REPS' option, typically several homeschool families joined together) files an annual letter with the Commissioner within two weeks after the school opens or by Oct 1, whichever is first, and reports enrolled students to the resident superintendent; it must operate 175 days or 875 hours and teach the DOE's listed subjects, with teachers examined for competency by the school. DOE treats this as separate from home instruction.
The notice, and who receives it
- Goes to
- Superintendent (school officials) of the administrative unit where the child lives. Statute also names the Commissioner, but Maine DOE now says to file only with the resident superintendent, preferably through the online Home Instruction Portal.
- Deadline
- First year: within 10 calendar days of beginning home instruction (by Sept 1 if starting with the school year). Later years: by Sept 1.
- Renews
- annual
- Form
- Home Instruction Notice of Intent (online Home Instruction Portal or paper form) — official form
Subjects Maine requires
- English and language arts
- Math
- Science
- Social studies
- Physical education
- Health education
- Library skills
- Fine arts
- Maine studies (in at least one grade 6-12)
- Computer proficiency (demonstrated in one grade 7-12)
Compulsory school age
6 to 17 (attendance required from age 6 until the 17th birthday); a 5-year-old enrolled in public school must attend unless withdrawn
Teaching time
175 days per year
Who may teach
Maine sets no qualification for the parent teaching at home: no teaching certificate, no college degree, and no requirement that you hold a high school diploma.
Testing and evaluation
Annual, filed with each continuing year's letter (not required with the first-year notice). Choose one: (1) standardized achievement test through the school unit or another Commissioner-approved arrangement; (2) a test developed by the local school unit (must be agreed before filing the notice); (3) review and acceptance of progress by a current Maine-certified teacher; (4) portfolio review by a local homeschool support group that includes a Maine-certified teacher or administrator; or (5) review by a superintendent-selected advisory board (one school employee and two home instruction tutors; must be agreed in advance).
No minimum score is set in statute.
Deadline: Sept 1 each year after the first, including the final year of home instruction
Records to keep
Keep copies of all notices and assessments filed until home instruction ends; they must be made available to the Commissioner on request.
High school, diplomas and transcripts
The state issues no diplomas, transcripts, credits or completion letters for home instruction; the parent is responsible for records and any diploma. A returning student's placement and credit are decided by the receiving school.
Public school classes, sports and activities
By statute (20-A §5021), home-instructed students may apply in writing to take specific public school classes (approval not unreasonably withheld) and earn credit, audit courses, join cocurricular activities, try out for extracurriculars and sports on the same eligibility rules as enrolled students, borrow textbooks/library books, and use school facilities. They are eligible for special education services under federal regulations and state procedures.
Funding: education savings accounts, vouchers and tax credits
No education savings account, voucher or tax-credit program open to homeschool families was found for Maine. Families fund their own materials.
What changed recently
No homeschool-specific statute change for 2023-2026: PL 2025, c. 390 amended only subsection 2 of §5001-A (other attendance exceptions), not the home instruction paragraph 3(A)(4), last amended by PL 2019, c.
508. Maine DOE routes all filings, first-year and continuing, to the resident superintendent through the online Home Instruction Portal and says not to send duplicates to the DOE (a waiver of the statutory duplicate filing in place since 2020); paper form revised Aug 2024.
What we could not confirm
Statute still says the notice goes 'simultaneously' to the superintendent and the Commissioner, while DOE guidance says superintendent only (DOE waiver since 2020); families following the DOE process appear compliant, but the text has not been amended. Whether a single family may operate as a 'recognized equivalent instruction' private school is not addressed by DOE guidance.
A full search for 2025-2026 bills was not possible (web-search budget exhausted).
Listed because a legal summary that hides its gaps is harder to trust than one that names them. How these pages are checked.
Statutes and sources
Statute and regulation
- 20-A M.R.S. §5001-A
- 20-A M.R.S. §5021
Statute text
- 20-A M.R.S. §5001-A Compulsory attendance
- 20-A M.R.S. §5021 Participation in public schools by equivalent instruction students
State agency
- Maine DOE: Home Instruction Requirements, Forms & Laws
- Maine DOE: Home Instruction FAQ
- Maine DOE: Home Instruction Notice of Intent paper form (rev. 8.5.2024)
- Maine DOE: Equivalent Instruction Private Schools
- Maine DOE: Equivalent Instruction Private Schools Guidelines (4.2.2026)