JFABD: HOMELESS
STUDENTS: ENROLLMENT RIGHTS AND SERVICES
To the
extent practical and as required by law, the district will work with homeless
students and their families to provide stability in school attendance and other
services. Special attention will be given to ensuring the enrollment and
attendance of homeless students not currently attending school. Homeless
students will be provided district services for which they are eligible,
including Head Start and comparable pre-school programs, Title I, similar state
programs, special education, bilingual education, vocational and technical
education programs, gifted and talented programs and school nutrition
programs.
Homeless
students are defined as lacking a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime
residence, including:
1. Sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of
housing or economic hardship;
2. Living in motels, hotels, trailer parks or camping grounds
due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations;
3. Living in emergency or transitional shelters;
4. Being abandoned in hospitals;
5. Awaiting foster care placement;
6. Living in public or private places not designed for or
ordinarily used as regular sleeping accommodations for human beings;
7. Living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings,
substandard housing, transportation stations or similar settings;
8. Migratory children living in conditions described in the
previous examples.
The
superintendent shall designate an appropriate staff person to be the district’s
liaison for homeless students and their families and any information regarding a
student’s homelessness should be referred through the liaison.
To the
extent feasible, homeless students will continue to be enrolled in their school
of origin while they remain homeless or until the end of the academic year in
which they obtain permanent housing. Instead of remaining in the school of
origin, parents or guardians of homeless students may request enrollment in the
school in the attendance area in which the student is actually living, or other
schools. Attendance rights by living in attendance areas, other student
assignment policies, or intra and inter-district choice options are available to
homeless families on the same terms as families resident in the
district.
If there is
an enrollment dispute, the student shall be immediately enrolled in the school
in which enrollment is sought, pending resolution of the dispute. The parent or
guardian shall be informed of the district’s decision and their appeal rights in
writing. The district’s liaison will carry out dispute resolution as provided by
state rule. Unaccompanied youth will also be enrolled pending resolution of the
dispute.
Once
the enrollment decision is made, the school shall immediately enroll the
student, pursuant to district policies. If the student does not have immediate
access to immunization records, the student shall be admitted under a personal
exception. Students and families should be encouraged to obtain current
immunization records or immunizations as soon as possible, and the district
liaison is directed to assist. Records from the student’s previous school shall
be requested from the previous school pursuant to district policies. Emergency
contact information is required at the time of enrollment consistent with
district policies, including compliance with the state’s address confidentiality
program when necessary.
Homeless students are entitled to transportation to their school of
origin or the school where they are to be enrolled. If the school of origin is
in a different district, or a homeless student is living in another district but
will attend his or her school of origin in this district, the districts will
coordinate the transportation services necessary for the student, or will divide
the costs equally.
The
district’s liaison for homeless students and their families shall coordinate
with local social service agencies that provide services to homeless children
and youths and their families; other school districts on issues of
transportation and records transfers; and state and local housing agencies
responsible for comprehensive housing affordability strategies. This
coordination includes providing public notice of the educational rights of
homeless students in schools, family shelters and soup kitchens. The district’s
liaison will also review and recommend amendments to district policies that may
act as barriers to the enrollment of homeless students.
SOURCE:
MASC
LEGAL
REFS.: Title I, Part C
No Child Left Behind Act,
2002
Adopted on: April 10,
2008