A St. Charles County divorce trial that has drawn the attention of home-school advocates is expected to end on Sept. 21. Meanwhile, as classes start, the children of Lisa Payne-Naeger and Jeff Naeger will continue to be home-schooled.

Payne-Naeger has home-schooled the children, now 14 and 16, for about eight years. She pulled them out of public school when she was a member of the Francis Howell School Board. She wants to continue home schooling them and says they have done well in the home-school environment.

Naeger wants the children to attend private schools this fall. He has said he is concerned about their education and socialization and thinks private school would be good for them.

The trial started in July with two full days of testimony. The case continued on Tuesday afternoon, but attorneys did not complete it. They are expected to finish the case with one more afternoon in court.

Naeger’s attorney, Deborah J. Tomich, asked for an interim court order giving her client legal custody to make educational decisions. The current court order under which the family is operating does not assign that right, she said.

Circuit Judge Rick Zerr denied the motion. He said he would continue the status quo until the case is finished. “I am not going to make a ruling that I think is a fundamental ruling in this case without hearing all the evidence,” he said.

Benicia Livorsi, a guardian ad litem appointed in the case, supported the interim order. She said it would be easier to move the children from a private school setting back into a home school setting than it would be to do the reverse.

After the hearing, Livorsi said she supported the proposed interim order only as a temporary measure. She said she has not made up her mind about what would be in the children’s best interest in the long run. She said the case has complex issues, including the parents’ problems communicating with each other.

Joel Eisenstein, Payne-Naeger’s attorney, said the interim order would have decided the case before all the evidence was heard. He referred in court to the education issue as the “600-pound gorilla” in the room.

Payne-Naeger and Naeger have testified publicly now. Their children testified privately in the judge’s chambers.

Here’s a tidbit for the sake of discussion. When the Post-Dispatch first reported this story, I spoke with St. Louis University Law Professor Jesse Goldner. He talked about this Missouri law.  Section two lists eight things a judge must consider when awarding custody.

The list is not exhaustive, as it says a judge must consider “all relevant factors.” It also says the fact that children are home-schooled cannot be the sole factor in determining custody.