Texas treats home schools as private schools under longstanding case law, which gives Texas homeschool families one of the simplest legal frameworks in the country. There is no state notification, no required testing, and the parent or guardian directs the program, including determining when the student has completed it and issuing the diploma.
Legal framework
The legal foundation is the Texas Supreme Court's 1994 decision in Leeper v. Arlington ISD, which confirmed that home-schooled students in Texas are considered to be attending a private school and are exempt from compulsory attendance at a public school. The Texas Education Agency publishes a short overview of the state's home-school requirements.
Notification & registration
There is no requirement to notify the state, the school district, or any other agency when starting a homeschool in Texas. If you withdraw a child who is currently enrolled in a public school, sending a brief written notice of withdrawal to the school is the standard practice.
Recordkeeping
Texas does not specify the records a homeschool must keep, but families typically maintain attendance records, samples of work, and a transcript of high-school courses and credits. These records are valuable later for college admissions, military enlistment, and (rarely) responding to questions from a school district about a withdrawal.
Graduation requirements
Texas does not impose specific graduation requirements on home-schooled students. The parent or homeschool administrator decides what constitutes completion of the program. That said, structuring the high school years around the credits a typical Texas public high school student earns (English, math through Algebra II, lab sciences, social studies, foreign language, fine arts, and electives) makes it easier to present a recognizable transcript later.
Who issues the diploma
The parent or guardian operating the homeschool program issues the diploma. Because Texas treats your homeschool as a private school, the diploma is issued by your homeschool program: your program's name appears on the diploma, and you sign as the administrator.
College & military recognition
Texas public universities and colleges admit homeschool graduates routinely. State law (Texas Education Code §51.9241) requires public institutions of higher education to treat homeschool applicants on the same basis as graduates of accredited high schools for admissions purposes. For military enlistment, Texas homeschool graduates qualify as Tier 1 applicants under current Department of Defense policy when they present a diploma and transcript.
Official source
For current statutory text, forms, and procedural updates, the authoritative source is the Texas Education Agency - Home-Schooled Students. Homeschool laws change, so confirm specific requirements directly with the state before relying on them.