According to a recent email from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW), as of July 1, 2025, students who are home-educated using either the Autism or Jon Peterson scholarships will no longer qualify for the scholarships following the year during which they turn age 18. This issue arises because compulsory education ends at age 18 which effectively ends home-education. The email states that while ODEW supports access to Autism and Peterson scholarships through age 21 for home-educated students, ODEW is constrained absent a legislative change.
Notably, students with disabilities may enroll in their public or private school until age 22. Therefore, providers may begin to encounter parents seeking to (re)-enroll students into their district of residence where they can either attend until graduation/exit at age 22, or engage in searching for an appropriate private school.
What does this mean for your district? Your district may see some instances of students either re-enrolling or enrolling for the first time in their district at age 18+. Absent a legislative change, parents or the students are free to choose to enroll in your district until age 22. Likewise, if they wish to continue to be home-educated (albeit without scholarship) they do not require excusal from your district since they are no longer considered of compulsory school age.
Once a student is enrolled in the district following aging out of home education, then the process for evaluation and creating IEPs would take place including determining appropriate transition services. The IEP team should also consider whether the student has met graduation requirements or when they expect they may meet graduation requirements. If graduation requirements are not met, then the student would exit from secondary education at age 22 with no diploma. The same rules would apply if the student enrolls in a private school for their final years of secondary education.