Our Rules and Regulations - last updated 1/07/2008

ABOUT SOUTH COAST CHRISTIAN HOME EDUCATORS

1. We offer our support to homeschoolers of any church or faith. Members are responsible for scrutinizing any events and relationships their children participate in to ultimately determine their appropriateness for their family.

2. We are a support group. Any advice you receive from any member including those in leadership should not be considered legal counsel. We are volunteers, not professionals. You are encouraged to seek further assistance from organizations such as Home School Legal Defense Association. We can direct you to such professionals.

3. We are all volunteers. No activity is planned unless someone takes responsibility for it. Therefore we cannot guarantee any events or services will continue from year to year.

4. We ask that participants dress in modest attire (without "t-shirt writing" that may offend a generally conservative public) and behave in a respectful and controlled manner. Parents are responsible for the dress and behavior of their children at all events. No alcohol is to be served during any sponsored event, in an all adult or mixed age setting, whether in a public facility or a private home.

5. We have no drop-off events. Parents are expected to be present and responsible for their own children at all times.

6. Membership fees. Member fees are paid at the start of the normal school year (usually September). Pro-rated fees are available for late in the school year. See Membership form for details. Member fees cover the cost of the following (but not limited to):

- MyFamily Private Web site
- SCCHE Information Web site
- Assemblies and other educational events
- Facilities rental costs
- Business costs (postage, mailings, photocopying, filing fees)
- Insurance
- Updating library resources from time to time
- Various other costs related to events and activities

My family is a private website limited to persons who are paying members of South Coast Christian Home Educators. All members shall be given My Family website access.

The following guidelines shall be adhered to by all members posting on the My Family website:

1. Posts, and any associated website links, shall not promote that which is inconsistent with the our Statement of Faith or that which is inconsistent with a Christian worldview.

2. Members are expected to exemplify graciousness in what they say and how they say it (see Ephesians 4:29). Since this is a homeschool support group, issues and topics should be relative to homeschooling. With such a large group, it is difficult to know how your words may impact others, especially in a negative way. Topics of controversy really do not belong on this website. Everyone has an opinion, but this is not a chat room or blog site. Postings should be relative to homeschooling. Great care for the feeling of others should be exercised at all times on this website. Highly sensitive and/or controversial topics include, but are not limited to:

3. Mean-spirited posts or reactionary, argumentative responses to posts are unacceptable. If you find yourself in strong disagreement over the content of a post, consider these biblical reactions: be slow to anger (Proverbs 16:32); be willing to overlook an offense (Proverbs 19:11); be willing to let the sharpening words of another sharpen you (Proverbs 27:17); acknowledge that everyone, including you, sins and falls short of God’s standard (Ephesians 3:23); be quick to forgive as Christ forgave you (Colossians 3:12,13).

4. No member business soliciting is allowed (Cookie Lee, Tupperware, Avon, other home-based businesses, etc.). However, Classified or For Sale information which benefit member families may be posted. Using members private emails for mass emailing/marketing is prohibited. Please do not send unsolicited business emails to people you do not personally know. When in doubt, ask the person first if you can email them about a business opportunity or function.

5. Prior to copying any information from the My Family Site to an outside source, you must obtain permission from the original poster or a site administrator.

6. Children of member families are not allowed to post, however parents may post on behalf of children who want to share appropriate content.

7. No posting of copyrighted material unless you have permission to do so.

8. Those interested in organizing a field trip read “Field Trip Guidelines” before posting information.

9. Disputes – From time to time misunderstandings or hurt feelings can arise between members. When a conflict arises between you and another member, we ask that you follow biblical outlines. Be slow to anger, willing to overlook and offense, pray before you speak or act. Matthew 18 outlines a fine pattern for conflict resolution. Seek to speak to the person you have conflict with first. If a problem is still not settled, seek counsel from leadership. In most cases, disagreements are just that: disagreements. Moving on is usually the best course of action. Strive to be peacemakers.

All posts are subject to review by the SCCHE Leadership and Site Administrators. If a member has posted unacceptable content, the member will be asked by a site administrator to delete their posted content. If the same member continues to post problematic content, member status will be changed to guest status – no posting privileges/site viewing privileges only. Any group or thread of postings that turn negative or appear to be going in that direction will be deleted. Leadership reserves the right to delete questionable content at anytime.

Your concerns and questions can be directed to leaders@scchomeeducators.org

FIELD TRIP GUIDELINES:

1. All field trip RSVPs’ will be honored on a first-come, first-serve basis. We cannot guarantee that everyone will be able to attend every trip as posted on the MyFamily web site.

2. If a phone RSVP is requested and you leave a message on a phone answering machine, please speak slowly and be careful to give the spelling of your last, your phone number, exact totals of how many adults and how many children, and the ages of the children.

3. In the case where there is a fee for a given field trip, the payment (due on or before the designated deadline) will secure your reservation.

Payments should be sent to the RSVP name & address as posted on the web site.

4. Cancellations before the RSVP deadlines may be refunded directly through the RSVP contact. After the deadline NO REFUNDS will be issued. In the event of illness or need for cancellation after the deadline, the canceling family can try to “sell” their spot(s) to other families, they can try to arrange a refund directly through the trip venue, or they can expect to lose their admission fee. Any extra monies will be applied to the SCCHE account.

5. Punctuality at the trip site is vital. The time posted is the time that you should be there. Any family arriving more than 15 minutes after the stated sign-in time risks losing their entry with the group at the group rate, as the group will proceed without them.

6. Upon arrival, please proceed immediately to the check-in person (do not assume he/she knows you have arrived). Because the designated meeting time is only 15-20 minutes before the field trip commences, you must be sure to accomplish “sign-in” within that amount of time.

7. Parents will be responsible for their children’s behavior and safety upon arrival and for the duration of the trip. Appropriate behavior and “conservative” dress should reflect positively on our homeschool group.

8. More instructions and forms are available on the group’s member MyFamily website.