South Dakota Alternative Instruction Notification: How to File the AIN

When South Dakota parents decide to homeschool, the legal paperwork comes down to one key document: the Alternative Instruction Notification (AIN). It is not a lengthy form, it costs nothing to file, and the state does not have the authority to reject it. But filing it correctly — and at the right time — is what establishes the statutory attendance excusal rather than leaving a family exposed to an unresolved truancy record.

What the AIN Actually Is

The Alternative Instruction Notification is the official state form that activates your family's legal right to homeschool under SDCL §13-27-3. That statute — South Dakota's "alternative instruction" law — is the legal foundation for home education in the state. It allows parents to educate their children outside the public school system without curriculum approval, teacher certification, or state oversight of day-to-day instruction.

Before SB 177 passed in 2021, families had to re-file this notification every year by September 1. That requirement is gone. Under current law, you file the AIN once when you begin homeschooling. You do not re-file annually unless your situation changes — for example, if you move to a different district or re-enroll a child in school and later withdraw them again.

What Information the AIN Requires

The form is minimal by design. The core statutory information is:

• Child's full legal name
• Date of birth
• Name of the resident school district (not necessarily the school your child attended — the district in which you physically reside)
• Parent or guardian signature

South Dakota does not ask for your intended curriculum, your teaching background, the number of instructional hours you plan to provide, or your child's current academic level. Use a physical address to identify the resident district; a P.O. Box is not a substitute for that address.

If your school district's paper form asks for anything beyond these core items — and some locally-produced forms do — use the DOE's current form or confirm the additional field with the DOE before omitting it. Do not provide curriculum plans or teaching-qualification information as a condition of filing.

Filing Online vs. Paper

Online filing through the South Dakota Department of Education portal is the faster and more reliably documented option. You submit the form, receive an electronic confirmation, and have a timestamped record immediately. Save or print that confirmation and keep it with your homeschool records.

Paper filing may go directly to the Department of Education in Pierre or to your local school district's main office. If submitted to the district, the district is responsible for forwarding the notification to the state. The risk with paper: if forwarding is delayed or the form gets mishandled, there can be a gap between when you submitted and when the state shows you as a registered alternative instruction family. If you file on paper, send it via Certified Mail with Return Receipt so you have proof of delivery regardless of what happens after.

Either method is legally valid. The practical advantage of online filing is the direct confirmation.

When to File

You must file the AIN within 30 days of beginning alternative instruction. This means within 30 days of the date alternative instruction begins; if that coincides with school withdrawal, file from that transition date — not 30 days from when you start thinking about it.

The coordination that works best:

1. Send a withdrawal letter to your child's school and file the AIN with the DOE or local school district on the same day when possible
2. Keep both the return receipt from your withdrawal letter and the AIN confirmation in one folder

Filing the AIN before your child's last day of school is also legal — you can notify the state in advance. What you should not do is let weeks pass after pulling your child from school before filing, because the child's attendance status may remain unresolved.

The 22-Child Limit

One requirement that surprises some families: under SDCL §13-27-3, an alternative instruction setting is limited to a maximum of 22 children. For individual family homeschoolers, this limit is irrelevant. But families participating in co-ops, microschools, or learning pods should be aware of this cap. A group that exceeds 22 children per instructor requires a different compliance analysis.

Compulsory Attendance and Who Needs to File

South Dakota's compulsory attendance law (SDCL §13-27-1) applies when a child is at least 6 years old by the first day of September and continues until age 18, subject to statutory exceptions. If your child falls within this range and is not enrolled in a public or nonpublic school, you must be operating under an active AIN or another applicable statutory exception to be in legal compliance.

Children who are not yet 6 by the first day of September and those 18 or older are outside the compulsory attendance window. If you want to homeschool a child who is not yet 6 by that date, filing the AIN is not legally required — but many families do it anyway so the paperwork is already in place when the child enters the compulsory-attendance window.

Common Mistakes

Filing with the school instead of the proper recipient. The AIN goes to the DOE or the local school district, not simply to the building principal. Use the DOE portal or the district's designated main-office recipient to avoid ambiguity.

Filing annually out of habit. Under the old law (pre-SB 177), annual filing was required. Some families who have been homeschooling for years still re-file every September 1. This is harmless but unnecessary. Families who are new to South Dakota or moved from a state with annual registration requirements sometimes get confused about this distinction.

Assuming the AIN substitutes for withdrawing from school. Filing the AIN with the state does not automatically notify your child's school that your child is no longer enrolled. You still need to send a formal withdrawal letter to the school. The AIN and the withdrawal letter serve different purposes and go to different recipients.

Not saving confirmation. Whether you file online or by paper, keep your confirmation. School districts occasionally claim they have no record of a notification when truancy questions arise. A timestamped confirmation or a certified mail receipt resolves those situations quickly.

The South Dakota Legal Withdrawal Blueprint includes a pre-filled AIN walkthrough, a withdrawal letter template, and documentation guidance so you have a complete paper trail from day one.

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