35+ Years: Serving the Dekalb County Homeschool Community
35+ Years: Serving the Dekalb County Homeschool Community
In 1981, the Roemhild family began homeschooling their children here in Georgia and were found guilty of breaking the compulsory attendance law. They appealed this decision, and in 1983 the Georgia Supreme Court overturned the decision. This paved the way for the Georgia State Legislature to work with homeschoolers to construct our current homeschooling law, SB 504, in 1984. With a framework for working within the system, homeschooling began to grow rapidly in Georgia.
In the fall of 1989, DeKalb County homeschoolers joined to form a new homeschool support group, DeKalb Christian Home Educators. Ads were placed in various local newspapers, and the word quickly spread. Patty Williard and her husband Hank headed the efforts, and the group met on the first Friday of each month at Parkwood Hills Baptist Church off Covington Highway. The group services included field trips, a lending library, and a quarterly newsletter publication. But the group had one core value “Be reverent in behavior, sound in faith, love, patience; be teachers of good things.”
The summer of 1991 was a time for reflection and regrouping. New leadership wrote a statement of faith and authored the by-laws. It was decided at that time to focus on support and to meet bi-weekly for park days. This allowed the children to socialize and the parents to gain support without anyone feeling pressured to work on major undertakings. Under the leadership of Angela Paul, the group took on the endeavor of producing a homeschool conference in cooperation with other homeschooling groups to bring national speakers such as Raymond Moore, Patrick Farenga, and Micki & David Colfax to Atlanta. The group thrived and offered more academic competitions including a Scripps Spelling Bee qualifier, a science fair in partnership with DeKalb County’s Wesley Chapel Library, and MathFest in partnership with Clark Atlanta University.
After leading DCHE as president for two years, Angela passed the reins to Susan Plaxco. Susan held the support group meetings in her home, and during her two-year tenure, the DCHE library grew, and activities for our teenagers were organized by Deanna Cauthen. During this time, the first progressive dinner encouraged teen engagement. It was also during this time that the statement of faith was evaluated, and it was reaffirmed that DCHE would be a Christian group giving support to home-educating families.
In 1994, the leadership of the group was then passed into the hands of Sheila Bayne. During her leadership, DCHE began meeting at Crossroads Presbyterian Church. One of the functions that were solidified during Sheila’s presidency was the Social Studies Fair. Near the end of Sheila’s term, homeschooling freedoms were in jeopardy due to several initiatives that were before the state legislature. DCHE was very active in meeting with Georgia representatives to ensure that these efforts did not succeed and our homeschooling rights were protected. It was due to this and other potential threats that the job of the legislative liaison became important.
Our next leaders were Freeman and Kathryn Moore. Under the Moores’ guidance, DCHE embarked on several significant trips that strengthened both our community and our mission. These included an educational trip to Washington, D.C., as well as a service trip to Jamaica to support a school for the deaf—both made possible through the Moores’ tireless fundraising efforts.
During one of the fundraising events, Kathryn invited our governor, Roy Barnes, to the event. Governor Barnes had co-authored SB 504 while in the state legislature and came to see how that law had impacted the lives of the DCHE family.
Soon another threat to homeschooling freedom arose, this time through the University System of Georgia. The Board of Regents instituted a policy that made college admissions almost impossible for Georgia homeschoolers. DCHE, along with members of Home Education Information Resources (HEIR), met with the staff of the Board of Regents for over a year to bring about change. A state-wide coalition was formed, and a proposal was submitted and eventually adopted that gave several reasonable paths to college admissions for Georgia home education students
In the years that followed, DCHE grew into a thriving homeschool support group offering weekly, diverse social engagement and academic enrichment opportunities. These included high school science and math classes, music lessons, art instruction, and foreign language courses.
In addition, DCHE continues to strengthen families by supporting parents and marriages through monthly marriage fellowships and workshops designed to equip and encourage parents throughout their homeschooling journey.
Our organization has remained an active voice for educational freedom and parents’ rights. DCHE remains a vigilant protector of home education and serves as an affiliate of the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), the largest home education lobbying group in the world with over 115,000 members. DCHE has also joined coalitions with Home Education Information Resources (HEIR) to ensure the Georgia Board of Regents adopted a reasonable pathway for homeschool students to gain college admissions.