Virginia homeschooling saw a surge last year

By the numbers: Just over 56,000 Virginia students were enrolled in homeschool for the 2024-25 school year, per VDOE data.

• That's up from 53,680 homeschool students in 2023-24 and 55,749 in 2021-2022.
• Homeschooling in Virginia peaked in 2020 with 59,638 kids — a trend seen nationally.

Stunning stat: In 2019, just 38,282 Virginia kids were homeschooled.

The intrigue: The number of Virginia families opting for homeschooling for religious reasons has climbed every year since 2019, when there were about 5,940 students. Nearly 6,760 cited religious exemptions last year.

Zoom out: The surge in homeschooling comes as public school enrollment has been on the decline in recent years, driven largely by Virginians having fewer kids and the state's flat population, Cardinal News reports.

• Yes, but: Public school enrollment was up for almost every district in metro Richmond last year — except Hanover, which saw a small decline, per VDOE stats.