Alabama permits churches or groups of churches to operate schools as long as they operate as nonprofits and don't receive state or federal aid. If parents or guardians report a child’s attendance at a church schools, the child is exempt from state law on compulsory attendance.
Parents can educate their children at home under the church school law in two ways. They can have the church establish an independent school in their home, or they can register with a church school that will then consider the parents teachers who teach their children at home. Church schools, also called church covering schools or umbrella schools, are exempt from state teacher certification, accreditation and regulatory requirements. Parents, however, must report their children’s enrollment at a church school to their local school superintendent, and the principal of the church school must maintain a record of student's attendance for every day of the year. Church schools are available in every denomination, including those that do not require families to subscribe to any particular religion.
Children home-schooled independently of a church must be under the supervision of a state-certified private tutor. State law requires private tutors to teach, "for at least three hours a day for 140 days each calendar year, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m." The tutor must also file a statement with the county superintendent certifying that the child is under his instruction, which subjects are taught and the period of instruction. The tutor is also required to keep a daily log of the child’s work, showing course of instruction and attendance, and may also be required to make reports to the state board of education.