Ordered mom to enroll children in public school or lose custody

A threat by a Utah judge to take away a homeschooling mom’s children if she failed to enroll them in public school, and make sure they were in attendance every day, has been escalated to the level of the state Legislature, according to a homeschooling leader.

"I can tell you there are several legislators working on this, including one on the judicial retention committee," John Yarrington, president of the Utah Home Education Association, said. "There’s no excuse for this kind of bias and prejudice."

At issue are the threats issued by Judge Scott Johansen, who serves in the juvenile division of the state’s 7th Judicial District

He said in a court hearing for the homeschooling mom, Denise Mafi, that he would order the removal of her children from her custody if she failed to enroll her children in the public school district and keep them in class every day, unless they had a physician’s note excusing them.

Mafi, who has homeschooled for nine years, told WND that she already had enrolled the children, for fear the judge would carry out his threat.

WND earlier reported the confrontation developed after the school district apparently lost an affidavit Mafi had submitted for the 2006-2007 school year.

Scott Johansen

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Whitney Sorensen has been taking online and on-campus classes and violin lessons at UVSC for about a year, but she’s not a traditional college student. First of all, she’s 14, and second, she’s a home-school student.

SHE USES THE UTAH VALLEY STATE COLLEGE courses to supplement the curriculum she’s learning at home, much like a high school student would do through concurrent enrollment courses.

Sorensen is one of Utah County’s more than 2,000 students who choose to forgo public school and learn at home. Home schooling is gaining popularity. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nationwide there were more than a million students being home-schooled in 2003, up from 850,000 in 1999. In addition, students with nontraditional backgrounds are becoming accepted at colleges and universities.

Craig Dilger/Daily Herald Whitney Sorensen practices the violin with her teacher Donna Fairbanks at UVSC on Tuesday, November 20, 2007.

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