Milestone: Graduation Day for my first born!

Today, my first born , Emily, will graduate from high school.  this is quite a milestone in her life and mine.  12 years of homeschooling! It’s been a privilege and an honor.  I’ve learned so much by homeschooling her, and of course she has learned a lot, too!

I won’t say it’s been pure joy, bit it comes close. 3rd grade was pretty rough with lots of phone calls to the “principal” (my husband at work) about her stubbornness.  Put two type A, opinionated people together and you’ll have some conflict.  But in the end we are so much closer for working it out instead of giving up. High school has been great. It is fun and exciting to see her grow and develop.

Congratulations Emily! Your dad and I are very proud of you.

Carol Topp, CPA

Three kinds of insurance for homeschool groups

Carol,

We were told by our host church that we’ll need our own insurance policy.  Can you look into that for us?

Beth S, Ohio

(I am a volunteer parent in this homeschool organization)

This homeschool group had been told by the pastor of the church where they would start some homeschool classes twice a week that they their own insurance policy.

So they need their own insurance.  But what kind? In talking to a helpful insurance agent, I learned there are at least three types of insurance a homeschool group could possibly need:

General Liability (sometimes called fire insurance).  It covers the property an organization owns or rents.  This is what the church is wanting from our group in question.  They want an insurance policy if our group damages their property.  Someone suggested that we ask the church to add our group as a rider.  It might be cheaper.  Or, it was suggested, we should get “event” coverage. It might be cheaper since we don’t meet every day in the church.

Accidental Medical coverage.  This is for coverage if a child hurts him or herself while at our homeschool function.  Since we don’t have gym classes or physical activities I think my group will skip this type of insurance.  We’ll probably get the parents to acknowledge that they will cover their children’s medical expenses.

Director and Officer insurance: This is to protect the leaders from being personally sued for liability.  The agent said these policies start at $1,000/year.  Yikes!  He said it is because it includes provisions for employee s*xual harassment, etc.. Because of the expense to the organization, some non-profits board members carry their own liability insurance.  Personal liability insurance, sometimes called an umbrella policy, can be purchased separately.  Our group doesn’t have employees (or a very large budget) and so I think that we’ll forgo the D&O insurance, also.

Carol Topp, CPA

How Much to Keep in Cash Reserves?

Hello,

I am wondering whether you have any guidelines about a good amount of cash to keep in reserve, or what to use as a basis for determining the amount of cash. We have a substantial surplus, growing every year despite our efforts to price classes at a close to break-even rate.

Thank you!
Shaun S in Minnesota

Shaun,

What a wonderful position to be in-cash reserves growing each year! Many for-profit businesses are not doing that well!

It’s a little difficult to be specific without knowing how you operate, such as do you collect all fees at the start of the semester or do you operate month to month.  Can families drop out or join mid semester? Do you offer refunds of fees paid if a family drops out? etc…

Basically, the tighter you run your cash flow (i.e., only collecting a month at a time), the more you need in reserve.

I recommend that you look at your sources of income.  Imagine any one item being eliminated, such as a major fund raiser. How would you run your co-op without that source of income? Sometimes when a nonprofit loses a major source of funding, it needs to fall back on cash reserves for a while.

Here are a few guidelines to help you determine the amount of cash reserves needed:
1. Have at least 10%, maybe 15% of your income in reserve for emergencies, damages or disasters.
2. Have at least one or two month’s rent in reserve in case you need to move locations.
3. If you pay employees, have at least three months of their pay  in reserve.
4. Consider creating a future plan of major purchases (like a computer or software) or programs you’d like to offer. Your surplus could be applied to your “wish list.”
5. Have at least enough in reserve to cover the deductibles on your liability and medical/accident insurance.

Here are a few ideas of what to do with your cash surplus:
1. Offer reduced fees to hurting families. In my homeschool co-op, we have a widow and another family with a disabled father, so they get free access to our co-op classes.
2. Offer reduced fees for significant volunteer efforts. We offer teacher discounts and discounts to our co-op director.
3. Make a contribution to the location you are renting if  it is a church or community organization.
4. Have an end of year party with a catered dinner.
5. Give appreciation gifts to all your volunteers.

I hope that helps!

Carol Topp, CPA

Fine line betwen a homeschooling group and running a private school

Dear Carol -

While searching for help in beginning homeschooling, I came across your website.  What a relief!  I am considering homeschooling for the 2009-2010 school year, and I don’t really know where to begin.  I live in Ohio.  I have certification in Ohio to teach in a non-tax supported school. I would be team teaching in my home with one, and possibly two, other mothers.  We would be teaching our own children, as well as children from one other family in which the parents both work.  There would be 7-9 children.  My children would be in 4th and 2nd grades.  I would be teaching the children in 8th and 9th grades, and possibly teaching part time the 4th grade children.

I have so many questions!  Is this legal?  Do we need to establish an organization (and if so, what kind?), or is notifying the school district enough?  What are some resources to help me get started?

Thank you!

Faye T in Ohio

Alert to homeschool leaders

The Homeschool Group Leader blog had this alert to homeschool leaders:

We want to bring your attention to a situation that occurred recently so you can be on your alert for any suspicious calls. Yesterday, the Home School Foundation (the charitable branch of HSLDA) received a call from an HSLDA member family who had received a suspicious call from a”Dr. Carey.”

Dr. Carey claimed to be a homeschooling mother of 12 gathering information for research work on behalf of the Home School Foundation. She told the family, in this case, the leader of a local homeschool group, that their group had been nominated by members in their group for a compassion grant from HSF.

To qualify for the grant, Dr. Carey explained she needed to ask some questions. These questions started with general queries about homeschooling and quickly led to questions concerning the family’s disciplinary techniques. The family then called HSF and confirmed that there isn’t a Dr. Carey on the payroll with either HSF or HSLDA.

While the Home School Foundation does offer compassion grants to homeschooling families in need, neither HSLDA nor the Home School Foundation would ever call their members and question them on the discipline of their children.

Also, if you have caller ID, all calls from HSLDA read: (540) 338-5600 while all HSF calls read: (540) 338-8688. This caller showed up as a restricted or blocked number. HSLDA does not block our number from your phone.

If any families in your group receive any calls from someone claiming to be from HSLDA or HSF and the caller’s number is either blocked or doesn’t match either of the numbers above, please gather as much information as possible and let us know. And let’s pray that this person will not be successful in deceiving any HSLDA members or other homeschooling families.

Please contact Abigail Dunlap at DiscountGroups@ …if you have any further questions or need to report a suspicious call.

Regards,
Abigail Dunlap
Discount Group Program Administrator
Home School Legal Defense Association (540) 338-5600

There are legitimate researchers out there, but be suspicious if a researcher’s questions become too personal. You do NOT have to answer anyone’s questions if you don’t want to.

Be very suspicious of any organization offering you a “grant” that you didn’t apply for. Grants are difficult to obtain and very competitive; foundations do not make unsolicited grants. It just doesn’t happen.

Carol Topp, CPA

Ten Ways to Torture a Tired Leader

My friends Kristen and Denise of Homeschool Group Leader have a sense of humor.

You have to be able to laugh at human weaknesses if you are a homeschool leader.

Here are their 10 Ways to Torture a Tired Leader:

1. Don’t Listen ~ Talk all during the announcements, the meeting discussions and while your leader shares important information.
2. Be Clueless ~ Ask your leader repeated questions about the information that you didn’t just listen to. Send them one-line questions in individual emails spread out over time.
3. Fill Other Members’ E-mail In Boxes ~ Send your repeated questions and comments to everyone on the list, filling all in-boxes, instead of only the in-box of the leader to whom you’re writing.
4. Quit at the Last Second ~ Volunteer to help with, or better yet–lead–an activity, then back out at the very end, leaving it all for the leader to complete.
5. Gossip ~ Discuss the leader’s clothes, kids, home life, homeschool, and leadership style –openly and with great fervor.
6. Complain ~ Never be happy with the place, the decisions, the agenda, the trips, the teachers, or the way the leader looks at you.
7. Show Up Late ~ Choose carefully the events that need to start at a specific time and strategically and systematically show up 15 or 30 minutes late.
8. Never Help Clean Up ~ Don’t stay after any event and help clean up. After all, isn’t that what the leader is there for??
9. Don’t Watch Your Kids ~ Let them run wild or talk while someone else is talking. Then get offended when someone asks them to be quiet or to sit down.
10. Be Demanding ~ Always express your opinion as fact. Be sure you speak every time someone else does, making sure that your frustrations and wants are very clear each time.

Recognize anyone?  Maybe you at times? Some of these are too close to the truth to be truly funny!

Carol Topp, CPA