Homeschool Requirements in Maine

Maine asks for a few particular things. A short list of real requirements, none of them heavy on its own. The dates undo more families than the paperwork ever does, so put them in the calendar in the same week you begin, alongside everything else a household is carrying. Do that and the rest of this page becomes reading instead of worry.

What you send in, and when it is due

Yes. Written notice of intent filed at the same time with (a) the school officials of the administrative unit where the student resides and (b) the Maine Commissioner of Education, within 10 calendar days of beginning home instruction. Must include parent name/signature, student name and age, program start date, and assurances of 175 days of instruction covering the required subjects and of an annual assessment. Thereafter, on or before September 1 of each subsequent year, file a continuation letter with both the local school officials and the Commissioner, enclosing a copy of the prior year’s annual assessment. (Note: the Maine DOE FAQ emphasizes the September 1 local filing; the statute text requires both recipients, file with both to be safe.)

Days and hours

At least 175 days of instruction annually. No hourly minimum.

Subjects the law names

English/language arts, math, science, social studies, physical education, health education, library skills, fine arts; Maine studies in one grade between 6 and 12; computer proficiency in one grade between 7 and 12.

The law names the subjects. It does not name the course titles a registrar will read, and Bible is where that gap costs families most. Booking Bible as a real subject on a transcript.

What you keep

No statutory portfolio-retention mandate, but families must retain the annual assessment result to enclose with the September 1 continuation letter. Practically, keep attendance/day counts, assessment documents, and work samples; Maine issues no records of its own.

Testing and evaluation

Annual assessment required, parent’s choice of five options: (1) standardized achievement test administered through the school unit or other approved arrangement; (2) a test developed by local school officials (pre-approved); (3) review and acceptance of the student’s progress by a person holding a current Maine teacher certificate; (4) portfolio review by a local homeschool support group that includes a certified teacher or administrator; (5) review by a local advisory board (one school-unit employee plus two home-instruction tutors). No minimum score is specified in statute.

An assessment is read against what you wrote down while it was happening, which is the part a morning hour tends to lose. Putting morning time and the church year on a record without inflating it.

What an evaluator or a test result gets attached to is the folder beneath the transcript. The Records Pack has the portfolio index with its evaluator summary, editable, in both editions.

The diploma and the transcript

Maine issues no diplomas, transcripts, grades, or credits to home-instructed students, and there is no state-recognized homeschool diploma. Parents create their own transcript and diploma; the Maine DOE explicitly tells families to confirm acceptance directly with colleges, the military, and employers. No state-mandated high-school credit distribution. No state ESA/voucher program covering homeschoolers as of July 2026.

Where this comes from

Statute: 20-A M.R.S. § 5001-A(3)(A)(4) (compulsory attendance; home instruction); see also Me. Dep’t of Educ. Rule Ch. 130

Source: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/20-A/title20-Asec5001-A.html

Last reviewed: July 2026. The day is not recorded.

Homeschool law changes, and a page like this goes quietly out of date. Before a filing deadline, read the code above yourself. If we have fallen behind we would much rather hear it from you than have you find out at a district office.

All fifty states and the District of Columbia, each one citing the law it came from.

Filing is one part of it. Keeping the record is the other, and that is what our Records System is for: the editable transcript with the GPA already working, 131 academic course descriptions, the Bible and theology descriptions, and this same cited summary for every state and DC. Protestant and Catholic editions. Thirty-nine dollars, one household, however many children you teach.