Lowcountry Dad For Bill That Would Allow Homeschool Kids To Play Public School Sports 

Source: WSAV News 3

By: Holly Bounds

March 23, 2012

 

In South Carolina, students who are home-schooled could play sports for their local public school. That's under a bill advanced this week by a senate panel. The measure also would allow the home-schoolers to be involved in extracurricular activities, including marching band.

Noah Gillinder and his sister Bella are two of the some 18,000 South Carolina children whose family kitchen sometimes doubles as classroom, for the Gillider kids---homeschooling is all they've known.

"Obviously, teacher ratio is very good, 2 to 1, it doesn't get much better than that,” Robert Gillinder said. “One on one attention- when they get to things like where I'm better at math than my wife is, I'm able to help them out after school if necessary."

Robert’s wife, a former public school teacher herself, instructs the kids. And you'll often find Robert with the afterschool activities---like at the Beaufort PAL’s soccer games where the video proves son Noah has talent on the field.

"My son's always been good at soccer and I’ve always pictured him playing soccer in a high school setting,” he said.

A measure moving through the senate now would allow Noah to do just that--28 states already allow homeschool students to participate in public school sports and Gillinder believes his son should have the option, too.

"We pay the same taxes as everyone else does and frankly we are unburdening the school system a little bit by not putting them in the schools system,” he said.

Gillinder says he and his wife's choice to homeschool has nothing to do with the sports aspect of school---and participation on the team would open up chances for scholarships into college.