CHN Group Classification & Posting Policy
Draft for Board Review
Purpose
The Connecticut Homeschool Network maintains its online communities primarily to provide information, support, resources, connection and community for Connecticut homeschooling families.
As homeschooling has grown, so have businesses, nonprofit organizations, educational programs, learning centers, private associations and other entities marketing programs and services to homeschool families.
CHN welcomes information that may benefit our community. However, organizations seeking access to CHN’s platforms must be accurately identified and transparent about the nature of their organization and the purpose of their post.
Use of the words homeschool, homeschoolers, co-op, community, or learning group in an organization’s name does not by itself classify the organization as a parent-run homeschool support group or cooperative.
CHN therefore uses the following classifications.
Six CHN Classifications
1. Parent-Run Homeschool Support Group
A community organized primarily by homeschooling parents for homeschooling families.
Typical activities include:
- Park days and meetups
- Field trips
- Clubs and social activities
- Parent support
- Holiday or seasonal events
- Occasional educational activities
Parents remain responsible for directing their children’s education.
The group generally does not operate as a business, sell an educational program, provide a comprehensive curriculum, employ instructors to educate members’ children, or exist primarily to generate revenue.
Posting status: Community/group posts generally permitted, subject to normal CHN rules.
2. Parent-Run Homeschool Cooperative
A cooperative educational arrangement organized and operated primarily by participating homeschool parents.
Generally:
- Parents remain onsite.
- Parents participate through teaching, assisting, organizing or supervising.
- Classes supplement parent-directed homeschooling.
- Parents retain responsibility for their children’s education.
- The organization does not replace the parent as the primary educational director.
- Fees, if any, primarily cover shared expenses such as facilities, supplies and activities.
Meeting once or twice weekly does not alone make something a co-op. The cooperative parent-run structure is what matters.
Posting status: Co-op announcements generally permitted, subject to normal CHN rules.
3. Educational Business or Service Provider
This includes individuals or businesses selling products, instruction or services to homeschool families.
Examples include:
Tutors, curriculum companies, music programs, art programs, sports programs, educational consultants, class providers, test-preparation programs, travel programs and other commercial services.
These businesses may provide excellent resources to homeschoolers, but they are vendors serving homeschoolers rather than homeschool support groups themselves.
Posting status: Promotional/business rules apply.
4. Learning Center, Academy, Microschool or Educational Program
Organizations providing organized educational programming to homeschool-aged children, particularly programs involving some combination of:
- Regular scheduled attendance
- Drop-off programming
- Paid instructors
- Organization-selected curriculum
- Multiple academic subjects
- Required assignments
- Tuition or substantial program fees
- Multiple instructional days per week
- Academic assessment or progression
An organization may call itself a homeschool academy, homeschool community, co-op, or learning center. CHN classifies organizations according to how they operate rather than the terminology used in their names or advertising.
Some programs in this category could potentially constitute nonpublic schooling under Connecticut law. CHN will not make that legal determination through its posting policy. Questions regarding legal school status may be referred for legal review.
Posting status: Educational-provider rules apply; not treated as an ordinary homeschool-group post.
5. Nonprofit or Private Membership Educational Organization
This category includes:
- 501(c)(3) organizations
- Nonprofit corporations
- Private Membership Associations (PMAs)
- Private Education Associations (PEAs)
- Foundations
- Charitable educational organizations
- Organizations operating under fiscal sponsorship
- Other formally organized entities serving homeschool families
Nonprofit status does not make an organization a parent-run homeschool support group.
These organizations may provide valuable services, but fundraising, donor development, membership recruitment, organizational growth and institutional programming may also be legitimate parts of their operations.
Those interests should be disclosed when organizations seek access to CHN’s audience.
Posting status: Organizational/nonprofit promotional rules apply.
6. School or School-Affiliated Educational Provider
Includes:
- Private/nonpublic schools
- Online private schools
- Hybrid schools
- Umbrella/cover schools
- Public virtual programs
- School-operated programs marketed to homeschool families
A school may provide programs useful to homeschool families without itself being a homeschool organization.
Posting status: School/provider promotional rules apply.
CHN’s Guiding Principle
This might be the most important paragraph in the entire policy:
CHN does not determine an organization’s classification solely by what the organization calls itself. We consider who owns or governs the organization, who directs the educational program, how it operates, how it is funded, whether money is collected, and what relationship it is seeking with CHN members.
And I would add:
Classification does not constitute endorsement or criticism. It exists so CHN members can accurately understand the nature of organizations, programs and services being presented to them.
That keeps this neutral.
Administrator Vetting Questionnaire
This doesn’t necessarily need to appear publicly. Your moderators can send it when something isn’t obvious.
Before we approve your post, please provide:
1. Name of organization:
2. Website/social-media page:
3. Name and role of the person requesting the post:
4. Who owns, directs or governs the organization?
5. Which best describes the organization?
☐ Parent-run homeschool support group
☐ Parent-run homeschool co-op
☐ Business/service provider
☐ Learning center/microschool/academy
☐ Nonprofit organization
☐ PMA/PEA
☐ Private/nonpublic school
☐ Other: __________
6. Is the organization incorporated, registered as a business, or recognized as a nonprofit/501(c)(3)?
☐ Yes
☐ No
If yes, provide the organization’s legal name.
7. Does participation involve any of the following?
☐ Tuition
☐ Membership fee
☐ Class fees
☐ Admission fee
☐ Donations/fundraising
☐ Sale of products/services
☐ Paid subscriptions
☐ None
8. Is this particular post promoting or requesting:
☐ Event attendance
☐ Program enrollment
☐ Membership
☐ Donations
☐ Fundraising
☐ Customers/clients
☐ Volunteers
☐ Email/contact-list signups
☐ Other: ________
9. Will participating families’ names, email addresses, telephone numbers or other contact information be collected?
☐ Yes
☐ No
If yes, by whom and for what purpose?
10. For co-ops/programs: Who directs instruction?
☐ Individual parents
☐ Participating parents collectively
☐ Organization/program director
☐ Paid instructors
☐ Other
11. Are parents required to remain onsite?
☐ Yes
☐ No
12. How many days per week does the program operate?
One Rule I Would Make VERY Clear
This directly addresses the situation you’re encountering now without naming anyone:
Solicitation must be disclosed.
Posts intended to generate donations, fundraising participation, program enrollment, paid registrations, memberships, customers, mailing-list subscriptions or other organizational benefits must be submitted as promotional/solicitation posts.
An organization may not obtain approval as a “homeschool group” post while omitting a fundraising, commercial, recruitment or organizational-development purpose.
There.
That solves a lot. 😂
It doesn’t prohibit fundraising.
It doesn’t accuse anybody of being sneaky.
It simply says:
Tell us what you’re doing.
CHN Retains Editorial Control
I would also include this:
CHN’s Facebook groups, website, email lists and other communication platforms are privately administered CHN resources. Submission of a post does not guarantee publication.
CHN may approve, decline, limit, categorize or request clarification regarding promotional material based upon its relevance to CHN’s mission, frequency, transparency and benefit to the homeschool community.
Approval of a post does not constitute CHN endorsement of an organization, product, program, business, educational philosophy or service.
And especially:
Organizations may not use CHN posts, events, groups or other resources to obtain or harvest CHN membership information. CHN does not provide its membership lists or member contact information to outside organizations or businesses.
That’s worth putting in bold.
And I think you’ve stumbled onto something bigger
This isn’t merely a Facebook moderation problem.
It’s part of the CHN organizational infrastructure we’ve been talking about building.
Once adopted, your moderators no longer have to debate:
“Is this really a homeschool group?”
They ask:
Which of our six categories is it?
And when something isn’t clear:
Send the questionnaire.
If the answers reveal that it’s six parents organizing field trips—approve it as a support group.
If it’s an LLC offering five-day drop-off instruction—educational provider.
If it’s a 501(c)(3) holding a campaign launch and seeking donations—nonprofit promotional/solicitation.
If it’s a parent-run cooperative—co-op.
And if the person won’t answer the questions?
CHN doesn’t have enough information to approve the post.
No drama. No accusations. No guessing.
And I would definitely have your attorney review the final version—particularly the language involving co-ops, learning centers and Connecticut nonpublic-school status—before the Board adopts it. Given the legal environment you’re operating in right now, that’s worth doing.