Homeschool families say Fremont hiring change bars them from city jobs

Scott Preston and another Fremont parent used the council’s public comment period to say a recent change in job postings now requires an accredited high‑school diploma and that the extra requirement is excluding home‑schooled applicants from city employment.

"The group I've described is homeschoolers," Scott Preston told the council, saying research shows home‑schooled students perform well academically. Preston said the city added language that effectively requires an accredited diploma and an additional GED step for many positions.

Seth Coats said his son completed K–12 under Nebraska’s Rule 13 home‑education provision and submitted a diploma and accredited college transcripts when applying for a firefighter job, only to be told after applying that his non‑accredited high‑school diploma made him ineligible. "His application was being withdrawn by the city because his high school diploma was not accredited," Coats said, adding that the accreditation requirement was not disclosed in the job posting or in subsequent communications.

Coats asked the council to examine city hiring policies and to sponsor a future agenda item to formally review how hiring requirements are published and applied. Neither the mayor nor staff offered a substantive response during public comment; councilmembers did not take immediate action during the meeting.

Why it matters: Coats and Preston said the change affects thousands of Nebraska students educated under Rule 13; they framed the issue as both a transparency and fairness concern for applicants who rely on advertised job requirements. The speakers urged the council to ensure written qualifications are clear and consistently enforced so applicants can rely on posted standards.

Next step: Members of the public asked the council to place a formal review of the city's hiring criteria on a future agenda. No formal council action on that request occurred during the April 28 meeting.