Homeschooling in Alabama

Choose the right legal route. Complete its filing and record requirements. Then begin.

Welcome, Alabama homeschool family. Alabama does not have one statute labeled a homeschool law. Instead, families satisfy compulsory-attendance requirements through a church school, a private school, or instruction by a certified private tutor. Each route has its own rules.

Who this applies to

Alabama’s compulsory-attendance law generally applies from age six until the child’s seventeenth birthday unless an exception applies. A parent, legal custodian, or guardian may delay enrollment of a six-year-old until age seven by notifying the local school board in writing.

The statute contains a narrow church-school clause for a qualifying student who is under sixteen and complies with the enrollment and reporting procedure in section 16-28-7. It does not expressly say that the student may stop receiving education at sixteen. Do not treat sixteen as an automatic homeschool endpoint.

Use the church-school route

A church school must be operated as a ministry of a local church, group of churches, denomination, or association of churches, receive no state or federal funding, and provide qualifying instruction through an on-site or home program. A family’s religious home instruction does not become a church school unless it operates through a qualifying church school.

File the child’s enrollment and attendance with the local public-school superintendent on the superintendent-provided form. The church-school administrator must countersign it, and the parent returns it to the superintendent.

Alabama law does not require routine annual refiling of an unchanged church-school enrollment. If the child stops attending that church school, the church school must notify the local superintendent pursuant to the consent given by the parent at enrollment.

The church school must keep an attendance register showing enrollment and every absence of one-half day or more. The private-school weekly reporting rule does not apply to a church school.

What Alabama asks for

What Alabama asks for

  • Choose a route
  • Compulsory ages
  • Age-six delay
  • Church-school filing
  • Church-school renewal
  • Church-school ending
  • Attendance register
  • Private-school registration
  • Private-school reports
  • Private-tutor credentials
  • Private-tutor schedule
  • Private-tutor instruction

How to handle it

  • Use a qualifying church school, private school, or certified private tutor
  • Generally comply from age six until the child’s seventeenth birthday
  • Give the local school board written notice if delaying enrollment until age seven
  • File the local superintendent’s form and obtain the church-school administrator’s countersignature
  • No routine annual refiling is required for an unchanged enrollment
  • The church school notifies the superintendent when attendance ends under the parent’s prior consent
  • Record enrollment and every absence of one-half day or more
  • Register annually with the Alabama Department of Education by October 10
  • Complete the initial enrollment report and report at least weekly as required by section 16-28-7
  • Use a tutor holding the applicable certificate issued by the State Superintendent
  • Teach at least three hours a day for 140 days per calendar year between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
  • Teach in English, cover the public-school branches of study, file the required statement, and keep the prescribed register

What Alabama asks for

How to handle it

  • Choose a route
  • Use a qualifying church school, private school, or certified private tutor
  • Compulsory ages
  • Generally comply from age six until the child’s seventeenth birthday
  • Age-six delay
  • Give the local school board written notice if delaying enrollment until age seven
  • Church-school filing
  • File the local superintendent’s form and obtain the church-school administrator’s countersignature
  • Church-school renewal
  • No routine annual refiling is required for an unchanged enrollment
  • Church-school ending
  • The church school notifies the superintendent when attendance ends under the parent’s prior consent
  • Attendance register
  • Record enrollment and every absence of one-half day or more
  • Private-school registration
  • Register annually with the Alabama Department of Education by October 10
  • Private-school reports
  • Complete the initial enrollment report and report at least weekly as required by section 16-28-7
  • Private-tutor credentials
  • Use a tutor holding the applicable certificate issued by the State Superintendent
  • Private-tutor schedule
  • Teach at least three hours a day for 140 days per calendar year between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
  • Private-tutor instruction
  • Teach in English, cover the public-school branches of study, file the required statement, and keep the prescribed register

Understand the private-school route

A qualifying private school is established, conducted, and supported by a nongovernmental entity or agency and may provide instruction through an on-site or home program. It is a separate institutional route with more reporting than a church school.

A private school registers annually with the Alabama Department of Education by October 10. It also submits the initial enrollment report required by section 16-28-7 and reports at least weekly concerning new enrollments and students whose absences were unexcused or not satisfactorily explained.

The private school must keep the attendance register required by section 16-28-8. Do not choose this route on the assumption that calling a home program a private school eliminates registration and reporting.

Understand the certified-private-tutor route

A private tutor must hold a certificate issued by the State Superintendent of Education. The tutor teaches the branches of study required in Alabama public schools, uses English, and provides at least three hours of instruction per day for 140 days each calendar year between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

Before instruction begins, the tutor files a statement with the county or city superintendent identifying the children, subjects, and period of instruction. The tutor also keeps a register showing the daily instructional hours and each child’s presence or absence and makes the reports required by law.

These tutor qualifications and scheduling rules do not become requirements for a family using the church-school or private-school route.

State protection, testing, records, and completion

Act 2014-245 protects nonpublic schools and home-schooled students from state or local licensure or regulation, including regulation by the State Department of Education. It preserves applicable attendance, child-protection, and criminal-history duties. Follow the filing, reporting, attendance, and record requirements of the route you choose.

The baseline statutes reviewed do not establish a general annual standardized-testing or portfolio-submission requirement for church- or private-school home programs. Conditions attached to an optional funding or public program are separate and may differ.

Keep dependable attendance and academic records even when Alabama does not prescribe a homeschool portfolio format. Course descriptions, grades, work samples, and high-school records help document the education provided and support later applications.

An Alabama public two-year or four-year institution may not deny admission to or otherwise discriminate against an otherwise qualified student, in whole or in part, because the student attended, graduated from, or is enrolled in a nonpublic school or was home schooled. Private and out-of-state institutions, employers, military branches, licensing bodies, and other organizations may maintain their own requirements.

Failure to enroll a child or comply with applicable compulsory-attendance duties may lead to misdemeanor prosecution. Upon conviction, Alabama law permits a fine of up to $100 and up to ninety days of hard labor for the county. Follow the requirements of the route you choose and preserve proof of compliance.

Your home base: SchoolhouseTeachers.com

Alabama families must choose the correct legal route and maintain the records that route requires. SchoolhouseTeachers.com gives your family curriculum and organizational tools in one HOME BASE.

One online family membership gives every child unlimited access to hundreds of online, self-paced courses from preschool through twelfth grade, all from a Biblical worldview, with graduation and college-preparation resources.

You will also find Virtual School Boxes, self-grading iST courses, World Book Online, and thousands of family-friendly videos.

The Homeschool Records & Compliance Center gives you tools to plan the year, document progress, and organize your Alabama homeschool records:

  • Education Plan Builder for mapping each child’s subjects and courses
  • Custom Schedule Builder for organizing your school year
  • Gradebook and report cards for tracking academic progress
  • Portfolio Builder for collecting work samples
  • High-school planning resources for organizing courses, credits, and graduation records
  • Applecore recordkeeping for grades, attendance, courses, and transcript information
  • Certificates of Completion for documenting finished courses

One family membership. Every child in your HOME. No fee per child. No fee per course. No limits.

“SchoolhouseTeachers.com is just amazing! I’ve had my account for almost two years, and I still don’t think I’ve seen everything!”
Ammy Quinn, SchoolhouseTeachers.com member

Official Alabama links

Questions? Call 1.888.718.HOME or email
customerservice@theoldschoolhouse.com.
A real homeschooler answers.

Requirements vary and change. Confirm current requirements with the Alabama State Department of Education, the applicable local superintendent, the school or tutor connected to your chosen route, and current Alabama law. SchoolhouseTeachers.com provides curriculum and recordkeeping tools. It is not a school, it is not accredited, and nothing on this page is legal advice.

Sources: Ala. Code §§ 16-1-11, 16-28-1, 16-28-3, 16-28-5, 16-28-7, 16-28-8, and 16-28-12; Act 2014-245; Alabama State Department of Education Homeschool page and 2026 School Safety and Discipline Manual.

Last reviewed: August 2026