Homeschooling in Utah: the law and how to start

Yes. Utah Code § 53G-6-204 excuses a school-age child from public school attendance to be taught at home. Once you've notified your local school board, you — not the district — are responsible for your child's education.

Utah's law is one of the lighter-touch homeschool laws in the country. Recent changes made it simpler still:

• 2024 (S.B. 56) removed the requirement to have the homeschool affidavit notarized.
• 2025 (H.B. 209, effective May 7, 2025) replaced the affidavit with a one-time notification, removed the requirement to attest to criminal background history, and set out how school boards must process notices.

Some older district pages and guides still describe a notarized affidavit — that process no longer applies.

• Send a one-time notice to the local school board of the district where you live. A letter of intent is fine; many districts also provide a form.
• Wait for the receipt. The district acknowledges your notice within 30 days. Keep it with your records.
• You don't refile each year. The notice is one-time. If you already filed an affidavit before May 7, 2025, you don't need to send a new notice for that child.

If your child is currently enrolled in a public school, send your notice to the district and let the school know you are withdrawing your child to homeschool, so they are not marked absent. Keep copies of everything you send.

Note that enrolling in a public online or charter program is not homeschooling under Utah law — those students follow that program's attendance and testing rules.

Utah does not set required subjects or a minimum number of days or hours for home school students. The law leaves the selection of instructional materials and textbooks, and the time, place and method of instruction, to the parent.

Most families still cover reading, writing, math, science and social studies, and build in the subjects their child will need for college or work later on.

There is no state testing requirement for home school students. The parent is responsible for evaluating the home school instruction, and the local school board can't require testing.

According to the Utah State Board of Education's guidance, a school board may not require instruction or attendance records from a homeschooling parent. Even so, it's worth keeping your district's receipt, a simple record of courses and work samples — especially if your child may return to school or apply to college.

As a homeschooling parent, you plan high school coursework and keep the transcript. Record course names, credits and grades each year so you can produce a transcript for colleges, employers or the military.

Utah's dual enrollment law lets a home school student also enroll in a public school for particular classes, so a teen can take courses such as a lab science or a world language at their local high school. The public school applies the same rules it uses for full-time students.

Utah has an equal-access law. Home school students can take part in public school extracurricular activities, including sports, if they meet the same eligibility standards as other students, and districts may not add requirements that full-time students don't face.

Through dual enrollment, a home school student can also take individual public school classes, subject to the same rules as full-time students. Under State Board rule R277-438, schools waive participation fees for eligible dual-enrolled home school students when the parent provides the required documentation.

For special education evaluations or services, contact your district's special education office.

The Utah Fits All Scholarship is an education savings account program that homeschoolers can use. For the 2026–27 school year, home-based students receive $4,000 (ages 5–11 as of September 1) or $6,000 (ages 12–18), compared with $8,000 for private school students. Money is spent on approved education expenses through the program's platform.

The program is run by Odyssey as program manager (since 2025) under the Utah State Board of Education. Applications for 2026–27 closed in spring 2026, and demand has exceeded funding, with a waitlist.

Legal status: in April 2025 a state district judge ruled the program unconstitutional, but it continues to operate while the State appeals to the Utah Supreme Court. As of October 2026 we did not find a final Supreme Court decision. H.B. 467 (2026) also made administrative changes to the program. Check the official program page before you apply or budget around it.

Utah has an active homeschool community, including statewide home education associations, regional co-ops and enrichment programs. Public libraries offer free classes, materials and maker spaces.

Your district office can answer questions about your notice receipt, dual enrollment and extracurricular eligibility.