Asking for homebound instruction while your child cannot attend
Homebound or hospital instruction is a placement the IEP team chooses, and this letter asks them to choose it deliberately. Either parent can send it as soon as a doctor restricts attendance, and it asks for three decisions: the teaching hours, where the related services happen, and the way back. You can send it today: paste it into an email, replace what sits in brackets, and write down the day the school received it; the table below says which day starts each clock.
What the rule says
“… a continuum of alternative placements is available … Include the alternative placements listed in the definition of special education under §300.39 (instruction in regular classes, special classes, special schools, home instruction, and instruction in hospitals and institutions)”
34 CFR 300.115(b)(1)
Home and hospital teaching are placements on that list, so the team picks one rather than the attendance office.
When to send it
- A doctor has put your child on rest or restricted hours and the school has no plan yet.
- Weeks of absences are stacking up and the letters coming home are about attendance rather than instruction.
- Your child left for a hospital or a treatment program and nobody has said who teaches there.
What happens after you send it
| What is being counted | By when | How it is counted |
|---|---|---|
| Homebound begins | Set by your state | Each state writes its own homebound rules and its own waiting period.34 CFR 300.115(b)(1) |
| The placement is revisited | Every 12 months | Placement gets determined at least every 12 months, so homebound does not simply continue.34 CFR 300.116(b)(1) |
What the letter has to contain
Who makes the call
An attendance clerk can arrange home tutoring off the books, and nothing about it reaches the document.
The placement decision is made by a group that includes you. 34 CFR 300.116(a)(1)
The hours and the subjects
A request with no teaching hours in it comes back as whatever the district already does.
Placement is based on your child’s IEP, not on convenience. 34 CFR 300.116(b)(2)
The related services
Speech and occupational therapy stop the day the building does unless somebody writes down where they happen instead.
A free appropriate public education stays available to your child regardless. 34 CFR 300.101(a)
The way back
Homebound with no return criteria written into it turns into the placement, and a year passes inside it.
The group considers any potential harmful effect of the setting chosen. 34 CFR 300.116(d)
The letter
Replace everything in brackets. The rest sends as it stands.
- To
- The school nurse, plus whoever handles homebound
- Subject
- Instruction while [Child’s name] cannot attend — [School name], [Grade]
Dear [Homebound coordinator], [Child’s full name] has been out of [School name] since [Date], and [his/her/their] doctor has written that [summarize the restriction — for example, a half day at most, or no in-person attendance until reviewed]. Please convene the IEP team to settle how instruction and IEP services continue while attendance is interrupted. Three things need deciding: • the teaching hours, and which subjects they carry • where [speech, occupational therapy, counseling] happen now, and who delivers them • what returning looks like, and who reviews it I am attaching [the doctor’s letter and the attendance record]. If the district prefers a different arrangement, please describe it and the reasoning in prior written notice. Best regards, [Your name] [Email] · [Phone] · [Today’s date]
If no answer comes back
Homebound waits are state rules, so count from the day the doctor’s note reached the office.
- Ask the nurse to confirm in writing that the medical paperwork is complete.
- Send the doctor’s note again to the special education office, dated.
- Put the missed instruction days into a written list and hand it over.
A no owes you prior written notice: the decision, the reason for it, and the records behind it (34 CFR 300.503).
This is a template, not legal advice: it does not replace your state’s procedures, or advice from someone qualified to read your file.
Have the pages you are writing about read back to you, free.
The review reads every page you upload, names the wording that is vague or missing, and gives you its page number.
Review my IEP — freeFree, no card. It reads your pages and contacts no one.
Where this comes from
- Continuum of alternative placements (34 CFR 300.115)Where home instruction sits.
- Placement decisions (34 CFR 300.116)Who chooses, and how often.
- Free appropriate public education (34 CFR 300.101)What keeps running regardless.
- Prior written notice (34 CFR 300.503)What a no owes you.
Response deadlines are set state by state, and the state pages carry each number with its rule.