Where Credit Is Due

Just a little background first -

As a homeschooler, you sometimes hear "horror" stories about dealing withe the local school district.  Not all school districts are friendly towards the homeschoolers in their jurisdiction.  Because of this, some in the homeschool community paint their local district (and the employees therein) as "the enemy."

I feel compelled to thus give praise to my school district and its employees, who have been nothing but over-the-top helpful whenever I need something or don't understand something.

Just this week, my dear daughter Nina has been offered a job :-), but being only 15 her employer has asked for a "work permit."  Personally, I have never heard of a work permit for young workers, so I set out trying to figure out what it was and where we could obtain one.  Embarking on a thorough internet search, the best I could come up with was that it was something you obtained from your local school district.  This lead me to contact my school district. 

First, I started with the homeschool liaison, Ruth.  Ruth is a gem!  She's been working there since I started homeschooling 13 years ago, and she has always been extremely helpful.  She had never heard of a work permit, but she referred me to another district office and she sent me some documentation of our legal homeschool status.

The next office I talked to had never heard of the work permit either, but they sent me on to another office, who sent me to another (the superintendent's office).  They were unfamiliar with the work permit either, but they did do a google search to investigate it, and they contacted the local high schools to see if they could find out anything about it.

Lo and behold, no one in the district was familiar with this form that I needed, but they did their honest best to meet my needs!  Then the next day, I get another written letter from Ruth (who had heard of my travails of the day before), that provided even more information to the employer that might be helpful.

Anyway, the folks at District 196 went above and beyond their duty to assist me in my quest for the elusive "work permit," and they were extremely kind and helpful in the process! Thank you, Ruth and all the employees who helped me!

****Any homeschool parent in the state of Minnesota who has actually obtained a work permit for their child, I would LOVE to hear from you!!****