7132 - Homeless Children
| Policy: Homeless Children | Policy Number: 7132 |
| Date of Original Policy: 03/20/2013 | Date Revision Adopted: 01/19/2022 |
| Reviewed by Policy Committee: 10/17/2018 | Date of Next Review: 01/20/2024 |
| Replacement of Policy Number: |
The Jordan-Elbridge Board of Education recognizes the administration’s responsibility to identify homeless children within the District, encourage their enrollment and eliminate existing barriers to their education which may exist in district practices. The District will provide homeless children attending the district’s schools with access to the same free and appropriate public education, including preschool education, as other children.
A homeless child is a child who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence or who has a primary nighttime location in a public or private shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations, or a place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation. This definition also includes a child who shares the housing of others due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or similar reason; lives in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; lives in a car, park, public space or abandoned building, substandard housing, bus or train station or similar setting; has been abandoned in a hospital or is awaiting foster care placement; or is a migratory child who qualifies as homeless. An unaccompanied youth is a homeless child for whom no parent or legal guardian is available.
A homeless child has the right to attend school in either the district of origin (i.e., where he/she resided before becoming homeless), the district of current location, or a district participating in a regional placement plan. The homeless child is entitled to attend the designated school district on a tuition-free basis for the duration of his or her homelessness. If the child becomes permanently housed, the child is entitled to continue to attend in the same school building until the end of the school year and for one additional year if that year constitutes the child’s terminal year in such building.
1. Admission: Upon designation, the District shall immediately admit the homeless child to school, even if the child is unable to produce records normally required for enrollment, such as previous academic records, medical records, proof of residency or other documentation and even if there is a dispute with the child’s parents regarding school selection or enrollment. Homeless children will have the same opportunity as other children to enroll in and succeed in the district’s schools. They will not be placed in separate schools or programs based on their status as homeless.
2. Transportation: The District shall provide transportation for homeless students currently residing within the district as required by applicable law.
3. School Records: For homeless students attending school out of the District, the District shall, within five days of receipt of a request for records, forward a complete copy of the homeless child's records including proof of age, academic records, evaluation, immunization records and guardianship paper, if applicable.
The Superintendent shall also designate a liaison for homeless children and ensure that this person is aware of his or her responsibilities under the law. The liaison’s responsibilities shall include, but not be limited to, ensuring that:
1. parents or guardians of homeless children are informed of the educational and related opportunities available to their children and are provided with meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children
2. parents and guardians and unaccompanied youth are fully informed of all transportation services available to them, and are assisted in accessing them
3. enrollment disputes involving homeless children are promptly mediated and resolved
4. school personnel in coordination with shelters and social service agencies and other appropriate entities identify homeless children, including homeless preschoolers
5. homeless children receive educational services, including Head Start and preschool services to which they are eligible, as well as referrals to health care and other appropriate services
In accordance with law and regulation, the district will offer a prompt dispute resolution process (described in more detail in the accompanying administrative regulation).
In accordance with Commissioner’s regulations, the district shall collect and transmit to the Commissioner information necessary to assess the educational needs of homeless children within the State.
42 USC §§11431, et seq.
School Enrollment Guidelines on the McKinney-Vento Act, 67 Fed. Reg. 10,697-10,701
(March 8, 2002)
Education Law §§207; 305; 3202; 3205; 3209
Executive Law §§532-b; 532-e
Social Services Law §§17; 62; 397
8 NYCRR §§100.2; 175.6