For almost two years, Utah has required parents who homeschool their children to sign an affidavit swearing they’ve never been convicted of child abuse. If you couldn’t do that, you couldn’t homeschool your child.
“I actually spoke in favor of [the law] at the time, just as a citizen,” said Rep. Nicholeen Peck, R-Tooele, during a Wednesday committee hearing. “... That was something that I thought, ‘Of course, that makes complete sense.’”
But, she told her fellow lawmakers, the legislation doesn’t work; it doesn’t have any enforcement “teeth.” Now she’s proposing a bill, HB209, to remove the requirement entirely, bolstered by throngs of supporters from within the homeschooling community, many of whom filled the committee chambers that evening.
Opponents, however, worry that dismantling this requirement is a bad idea.
Some such skeptics pointed to recent, high-profile examples of Utah parents who took their children out of public schools and allegedly abused them, like Ruby Franke and the father and stepmother of 12-year-old Gavin Peterson, who died from organ failure last July after prolonged abuse.
Eve Ettinger, with the Coalition for Responsible Home Education, was among them, calling the law a “common-sense obstacle to those who might be operating in bad faith.”
“Even if enforcement efforts are lacking in some areas,” she said, “that is a reason to improve enforcement, not a reason to strip homeschool children of much-needed protections.”
What does HB209 do?
Peck said removing the affidavit requirement would clear up some of the confusion it caused. Some districts, for instance, interpreted the law as a requirement to perform a background check.
She added that the affidavit wasn’t effective.
“The affidavit is not notarized. It’s not a binding document, per se,” Peck said. “It’s just a notification type thing that they file in a filing cabinet. Nothing happens with it.”
The proposal does keep language requiring parents who withdraw an enrolled child from school for homeschool to provide a one-time notification to the local school board. Parents who submitted an affidavit prior to May 7 wouldn’t have to send an additional notification.
‘Keep homeschooling weird’
Utah’s homeschooling community seems to overwhelming support the bill, showing up in force Wednesday to make their case at the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee.
Dozens of parents brought their children, some wearing matching yellow UHOPE T-shirts (UHOPE is a coalition of groups that advocate for homeschooling), or shirts that read: “Keep homeschooling weird.” Others wore their Sunday best.
The kids listened to nearly an hour of presentations for other bills, sitting quietly, fidgeting or falling asleep through a contentious debate on polygraph use in sex crime cases and other proposals.
Sen. Todd Weiler, chairman of the committee, took note of the large crowd and encouraged brevity. He said they wouldn’t all be able to offer public comment, but “you can vote with your face” and asked those in favor of the bill to stand up.
“I can see the vast majority of you are in favor of the bill, and we’ve gotten your texts, we’ve gotten your emails, we’ve gotten your phone calls. I promise we have,” said Weiler, R-Woods Cross, with a chuckle.
Nina Wolf, representing UHOPE, encouraged the committee to support the bill, saying laws related to child abuse should reside in the criminal section of Utah law, not in the parameters for homeschooling.
While she acknowledged Gavin’s case, and others like his, she said those instances don’t represent most homeschooling families.
“The language in the code associating heinous crimes against children in the same area of code that regulates homeschooling presents an association in the minds of those who are reading this code,” Wolf said. “It makes it look as if this is expected and associated with homeschooling, which we absolutely reject.”
(Utah State Legislature) Nina Wolf, left speaks in favor HB 209, Homeschool Amendments, during a Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee on Feb. 19, 2025. Rachel Marshall, right, prepares to make comments opposing the bill.
In addition to Ettinger, three other dissenters spoke, all of whom were former homeschoolers.
Rachel Marshall, of Sandy, said the bill provided one of the “few safeguards protecting homeschool children,” and she could not support removing the language.
“Due to the lack of requirements from the school board and the state, my education and safety were at the mercy of my parents’ ability to function — all deteriorated due to their mental illness, addiction and abusive relationship," she said. “As a mental health therapist, I know that isolation is a red flag for abuse, and homeschooling is inherently an isolation risk.”
Ultimately, the committee voted unanimously to recommend the bill. It is now in the hands of the full Senate.
Sen. Luz Escamilla. D-Salt Lake City, told the committee before her vote that she thinks this is good policy, meant to fix unintended consequences of a well-intentioned bill. But, she said, there is still work to be done to protect children like Gavin.
“More will come with regards to the child welfare piece and and making sure that all children are safe,” Escamilla said. “But your bill is moving the right direction to make sure that parents should be treated with respect and not be putting a highlight of abusers.”
Peck concluded her presentation in tears, saying, “While there are bad actors and bad circumstances that can occur and can even be heartbreaking, as we know in some of these high-profile cases, I also do know the grit, the sacrifice, the love that homeschoolers have for their children.”
She thanked everyone for their time. After lawmakers voted in favor of the bill, the crowd broke into applause and the room emptied.
