In Nebraska, the thing you start when you pull a child out of public school is not called a homeschool. It is an "exempt school," a private school the state exempts from its approval and accreditation rules, and that label shapes every form you file. A parent who decides in the middle of a semester that public school is not working does not sign up for a homeschool program; they file paperwork electing exempt status for their own home. The name sounds heavier than the reality. Nebraska's requirements are among the lighter ones in the country, with one exception added in 2026 that matters most to families leaving public school under particular circumstances.
Nebraska's exempt school model
Home education in Nebraska is governed by Rule 13, the state regulation that governs exempt schools, and the framework is brief. You teach the subject areas the state names: language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and health, drawn from Nebraska's instruction statute at Section 79-1601. You file an annual notice. That is most of it. There is no standardized testing requirement, no portfolio to submit, and no state review of your curriculum or your child's progress.
The word "exempt" is the key to the whole model. Nebraska's other schools, public and accredited private, answer to state approval and accreditation standards; an exempt school elects out of those, which the state allows when parents object to that oversight on the basis of sincerely held beliefs or their right to direct a child's education. In exchange for the lighter touch, you take on the subjects and the annual filing yourself. Nebraska names the subjects and otherwise stays out of the schedule, leaving the calendar and daily rhythm to you. The one health rule the model does not waive is immunization: Nebraska's standard school immunization requirements apply to exempt-school students, with the usual medical and religious exemptions on file.
The instructor-qualification rule trips up families who have read older guides. Nebraska does not require you to hold a teaching certificate, and it does not require a certified teacher to supervise you. On the filing form, you affirm that you, as the parent, are satisfied that whoever provides instruction is qualified to do it. That is the whole standard. Nebraska is revising Rule 13 in 2026. The core of the exempt-school model is unchanged, but confirm the current forms on the state's Nebraska page before you file. Day-to-day, the light framework gives Nebraska families wide latitude in how they homeschool, from boxed curricula to interest-led learning.
How to start: withdraw, then file
Starting an exempt school is a two-step process, and you can do it mid-year. First, withdraw your child from public school. Send the district written notice that you are withdrawing to a Rule 13 exempt school; a short dated letter does the job, and keeping a copy protects you if attendance questions come up later. Our guide to withdrawing from public school walks through the wording and the timing.
Second, file with the state. Nebraska wants two forms filed with the Commissioner of Education: Form A, the Statement of Election and Assurances, from each parent or guardian, and Form B, the Authorized Parent Representative Form. Form B names the adult the state can contact about your school. The annual deadline is July 15 for the coming school year, and the state accepts filings after that date, which is what makes a mid-year start possible: you file when you begin. On Form A you elect exempt status, which is how you satisfy Nebraska's compulsory-attendance law at Section 79-201, covering ages 6 through 18, without enrolling in an approved school, and you affirm that you will teach the required subjects. The Exempt School office processes the filing and acknowledges it; keep that acknowledgment with your withdrawal letter as your proof of compliance. If you are weighing the move and wondering whether you can homeschool your child in Nebraska, the answer is yes, and getting started comes down to these two filings.
What LB 937 changed in 2026
In 2026 Nebraska added one restriction through LB 937, an education package the Legislature passed unanimously, 49 to 0, and Governor Jim Pillen signed on April 16. The homeschool provision rode inside that larger package; homeschool advocates, including HSLDA, testified against this piece, and it passed with the rest of the bill. It does one main thing to home education. If the Nebraska Division of Children and Family Services receives a report of abuse or neglect involving a parent, guardian, or educational decision-maker of a student, that family cannot transfer the student from their current school to an exempt school until 14 days after the investigation begins, even when the report has not been substantiated. When the delay is triggered, the student's current school and the state commissioner of education are notified. The law also bars anyone convicted of specific sexual or child-maltreatment offenses from monitoring or providing instruction at an exempt school.
The 14-day window, as its sponsors framed it, is aimed at the narrow case of a child being withdrawn from a school's view right as a welfare report comes in. It put Nebraska among a small group of states tying a homeschool withdrawal to an open child-welfare check; you can see where the state stands next to others on our state pages. Whether that tradeoff is reasonable is not the question this guide answers; what matters here is who it touches and who it leaves alone.
What LB 937 does not change
For most Nebraska families, LB 937 changes nothing. If you already homeschool through a registered exempt school, the law does not reach back to you. It adds neither testing nor a portfolio. It does not change the annual notice process and creates no new ongoing oversight for families already operating as exempt schools. The delay applies at the moment of withdrawal from another school, and only when a child-welfare report is already in motion. A family with no CFS involvement files the same two forms by the same July 15 deadline and carries on as before. If you have read that Nebraska "cracked down" on homeschoolers, this is the actual scope.
What to keep on file
Nebraska asks for almost no records, which is the reason keeping your own is worth the small effort. The state does not collect attendance or work samples, but a school official, a court, or a college admissions office can still ask what your child studied and when. A family that logs attendance, the subjects covered, the materials used, and the dates of instruction can answer any of those requests in minutes; a family that kept nothing is reconstructing a year from memory. The need usually shows up later than you expect: a high schooler applying to college who needs a transcript built from years of coursework, or a family that moves to a stricter state and has to prove what was taught. Records you kept casually become the easy answer. None of this is required, and all of it is cheap insurance, and it matters more in a state that now records when a child moves into home instruction during an investigation.
This is the part HomeschoolFox is built for. Logging each activity by subject as you go, with dates and a note on materials, turns the records you are not required to keep into a clean export you can hand over if anyone ever asks, and our record keeping guide covers what is worth tracking and what is not.
If a school official or CFS contacts you
If a district employee questions whether your exempt school is legitimate, stay matter-of-fact: you have elected exempt status under Rule 13, you have filed Form A and Form B with the Commissioner, and you teach the required subjects. Offer your filing confirmation, keep the exchange in writing, and you have met your obligation. If the contact comes from Child and Family Services, that is a different situation, and you do not have to handle it from memory: be polite, ask what is being requested, decline to consent to anything you do not understand, and consider legal counsel before any recorded interview. HSLDA exists for this kind of moment and is the first call many Nebraska families make.
Homeschooling in Nebraska is, for the vast majority of families, a July 15 filing and a commitment to a handful of subjects. LB 937 added a single, specific brake for families withdrawing a child while a welfare report is open, and left everyone else where they were. Know which group you are in, file your forms, keep your own records, and the exempt-school path stays as light as Nebraska intends it to be.
