• Tax Credit Scholarships:
  • Financial scholarships used toward private education tuition.
  • Funded by donors or businesses (donations are NOT tax deductible except to approved insurance companies doing business in South Dakota.
  • Payment is issued directly to the school.
  • 1,771 students provided scholarships in 2024-25.

Here are state requirements for homeschooling:

• Parents submit a one-time notification of home instruction to the Department of Education.
• Home schooled students may participate in public school extracurricular activities.
• Instruction must include the basic skills of language arts and mathematics. The person providing instruction is not required to be a certified educator.
• No person may instruct more than 22 children in an alternative instruction environment.
• Education must be provided to lead to a mastery of the English language.
• Public schools are required to loan textbooks at no cost to homeschooled students.

Religious Exemptions:

• There are no religious exemption laws for compulsory education.

  The First Amendment states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Many argue that a religious conviction to provide a home-based education is constitutionally protected and a state religious exemption law is not a requirement to be able to homeschool on religious grounds.

  It should be noted that the U.S. Supreme Court in Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972) established that “Under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, a state law requiring that children attend school past eighth grade violates the parents’ constitutional right to direct the religious upbringing of their children.” (The case involved a challenge of a 16-year-old student to be exempt, so the scope was limited)