GRAND FORKS — From the 2007-2008 school year to 2025-2026, the number of homeschooled students in North Dakota has increased 756%, a trend some experts expect to continue.

According to Arlene Wolf, the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction director of school approval and opportunity, from 2007 to 2025, there were no significant changes in state policy regarding homeschooling. Despite that, homeschooling numbers have skyrocketed.

Liz Buck, the North Dakota Home School Association office administrator and editor, said factors outside of policy have contributed to the rise, including changes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the creation of new educational technology and short staffing in public schools. She said many parents have turned to homeschooling to teach their children their own values and to have more freedom in terms of scheduling and content.

“Parents that pulled their student out during COVID stuck with it. They didn’t actually re-enroll their students back into the public school after the pandemic was over. So what did these parents and others discover about homeschooling that made them continue?” Buck said. “Many of the things that they discovered is that you have a lot more freedom when you’re homeschooling. You’re not tied to the school schedule. You can tailor your students’ education to exactly what they need and what their strengths are and you can shore up their weaknesses a lot easier.”

According to data from the NDDPI, 694 North Dakota students were homeschooled in the fall of 2007. In the fall of 2025, the number was 5,943. The data over the 18 years shows a fairly steady increasing trend, with a large spike — one that has since been surpassed — during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the pandemic, according to Buck, some parents turned to homeschooling after disagreeing with teachers’ “worldviews” and others because they saw what they believed to be “wasted time” in the classroom.

“I think for the first time, parents were watching what their students were doing in the classroom. You know, it was right there on the laptop,” she said. “They were building some confidence as they were watching what the teacher was doing. They were thinking to themselves, I can surely do this.”

Buck also mentioned that multiple parents cited bullying concerns as the reason they decided to educate at home. Particularly for students in rural school districts, she said public schools often do not have the funding and staffing to properly address all student behavior.

“Parents are taking matters into their own hands, and they’re pulling their students out to keep them safe,” Buck said. “It’s not really something they ever really intended on doing, but when they see what’s happening, they realize this is probably the best option that they have.”

According to a study by the National Home Education Research Institute, homeschooled students typically score 15 to 25 percentile points above public school students on standardized tests, regardless of the parent’s level of education or the family’s household income.

In North Dakota, a parent does not need a high school diploma to home educate. According to Wolf, parents who haven’t graduated from high school can educate their children if they agree to be monitored by the district for up to two years.

“We believe that (parents) know their children best and can educate them in a way they feel is best for them,” she said.

Buck said she expects the rise of increasing home-schooled students to continue. The rise likely be fueled by the aforementioned factors but also, she believes, by an increase in popularity of home-schooling on social platforms.

“I really expect to see it continue. … The rise of social media has allowed a lot of information sharing,” she said. “These parents, they’re seeing social media influencers that home-school do day-in-the life kind of videos. All of that leads parents to look at it and go, ’You know what? I can do this. This seems like a really awesome lifestyle to choose.’ ”

Sophia is the K-12 education reporter for the Grand Forks Herald.

Rotunda Rumblings

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Harsh words: The judge’s decision Monday that blocked the Trump administration from ending protections for Haitians in the U.S. was a sharply worded departure from the long history federal judges have of using even tones to explain the opinions. Here’s some of her more pointed remarks.

Things didn’t look great coming out of halftime for the Tea Area boys basketball team, and O’Gorman made a point to shut off the Titans’ star juniors, Gavin Shawd and Grifin Wiebenga.

Sophomores Mitch Grant and Blake Lundin stepped up to the plate, helping author a 15-8 third that put Tea Area in front for good in a 65-61 win over O’Gorman on the Knights’ home floor.

“At the defensive end, we really just locked in and collapsed the paint and they didn’t really know what to do,” Lundin said.

Not only did the defense shut down the Knights, but Grant scored eight big points with a pair of threes and Lundin had a bucket and commanded lots of attention in the paint.

“I just think we started working as a team really well,” Grant said. “Griff and Gavin started to get in rhythm. I hit a couple big shots. We just play so well together when we get in stride, and when we get in stride it’s hard to stop.”

Tea Area closed out the game without forfeiting the lead, building it to as big as 52-41 early in the fourth. The Titans then had to grind their way to the finish, just like they did the entire first half.

“We talk a lot about taking punches,” Tea Area head coach Drew Weber said. “We don’t play very deep. When you play five or six guys most of the game, it’s hard to play good basketball for 32 minutes. We knew that O’Gorman can play really well and they did in that first quarter. We couldn’t guard worth a hoot in the first quarter, and we took a punch there.”

This young Titans team has learned how to take a punch, though, and dished one back when things mattered most on their 14-0 run between the end of the third and beginning of the fourth.

“That’s kind of been our MO in a lot of these games,” Weber said. “You take some punches here and there, then you throw one back with a 10-0 run, a 12-2 run, something like that.”

Tea Area is now 10-3 and in the midst of its best start since opening 12-3 in the 2022-23 season. It’s been led by two juniors — Shawd and Wiebenga — and the two sophomores, and those guys have used defeat as fuel for improvement.

The last two losses were an 82-55 defeat to Sioux Falls Roosevelt on Jan. 16, and a 62-60 loss to unbeaten Sioux Falls Lincoln on Jan. 31.

“The Roosevelt game hurt, and I feel like the score doesn’t do it justice,” Grant said. “That put a big dagger in us. That Lincoln game, it just hurt us more which helped us this game with energy and stuff.”

“That Lincoln game, that hurt,” Lundin said. “We probably played the best we’ve ever played and coming into this game, I think we knew they’re a top, competitive team. I think we all played together.”

Those losses have helped the Titans up their focus in practice, and the results of that focus have shown in their road win over Mitchell, close loss to Lincoln and road win over O’Gorman.

“Before the Lincoln game, we knew we really had to try at practice,” Grant said. “Practice just got better. Even our scout team started to step up and give us better looks. There’s days where the scout team is playing 10 times better than us. They’re key to our success.”

This Tea Area team thrives on its tough mentality and youthfulness. The Titans have showed that time and time again this season, and are anticipating more chances to prove their mettle with games left against Sioux Falls Jefferson, Sioux City East, Harrisburg, Brandon Valley, Sioux Falls Washington and Marshall.