These letters summarize important statutes relating to student attendance, public school admission, enrollment records, and tuition. Part I of the letters relate to compulsory attendance, Part II relates to attendance for course credit, Part III relates to public school admission, Part IV relates to enrollment records, and Part V relates to tuition. In each part,… Read more »
Home, Together, the federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness, focuses on strategies to ensure that homelessness is a rare, brief, and one-time experience. In order to achieve that goal, national, state, and local partners must work across sectors to build a coordinated community response that addresses the strengths and needs of individuals and… Read more »
The laws about runaway, homeless, or unaccompanied youth can seem to be confusing and vague. While physically apart from their parent or guardian, homeless youth lack certain rights that can lead to confusion about legal issues of consent, eligibility for emancipation, parents’ rights, accessing shelter, public education, health care, and public benefits. Recognizing these challenges,… Read more »
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. 20 USC §1232g; 34 CFR Part 99. Specifically, it prohibits a school from disclosing personally identifiable information from students’ education records without the consent of a parent or eligible student, unless an exception to FERPA’s… Read more »
This document provides answers to frequently asked questions on the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and the education rights of children and youth in homeless situations, based on the amendments made by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, which takes effect on October 1, 2016. The answers are general responses based on federal statutes, regulations,… Read more »
State and local educational agencies (SEAs and LEAs) must develop, “review and revise, policies to remove barriers to the identification of homeless children and youths, and the enrollment and retention of homeless children and youths in schools in the State, including barriers to enrollment and retention due to outstanding fees or fines, or absences.” 42… Read more »
This document addresses the provisions in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that create new requirements for the capacity, training and duties of LEA McKinney-Vento liaisons. Federal Guidance offers additional suggestions for implementing those requirements.
The Office of Safe and Healthy Students has developed a number of resources regarding the U.S. Department of Education’s recently issued “Non-Regulatory Guidance on the Student Support and Academic Enrichment (SSAE) Grants” (the Guidance). The SSAE program is authorized under Title IV, Part A of ESSA. Click here to access the Guidance: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/essassaegrantguid10212016.pdf. The SSAE… Read more »
http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/edhhsfostercarenonregulatorguide.pdf The U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services has released Non-Regulatory Guidance on Ensuring Educational Stability for Children in Foster Care. In December 2015, Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), and built on the many recent legislative successes and… Read more »
This two-page summary of the ESSA provisions was prepared by SchoolHouse Connection.
This letter summarizes important statutes relating to student attendance, public school admission, enrollment records, and tuition. Part I of the letter relates to compulsory attendance, Part II relates to attendance for course credit, Part III relates to public school admission, Part IV relates to enrollment records, and Part V relates to tuition. In each part,… Read more »
This document was developed by the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), and contains forms and procedures for LEAs related to the dispute of student eligibility for services under the McKinney-Vento homeless education provisions. The document contains two forms: Exhibit A: Dispute of Eligibility, School Selection, or Enrollment Under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act—3 pages… Read more »
This guidance was issued in July, 2016; updated in August 2018. The Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) program is authorized under Title VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.) (McKinney-Vento Act). The McKinney-Vento Act was originally authorized in 1987 and most recently re-authorized in December 2015 by the… Read more »
All schools that maintain a website must post post information on their websites about local programs and services available to assist homeless students.
This brief outlines administrator responsibilities related to the homeless liaison duties.
Federal law requires every LEA (school district and charter school) to appoint a local homeless education liaison. Local liaisons are LEA staff members responsible for ensuring the identification, school enrollment, attendance, and opportunities for academic success of students in homeless situations. Some of these activities may be accomplished by the local liaison himself or herself; others are accomplished by coordinating efforts with other staff people. By linking students and their families to school and community services, local liaisons play a critical role in stabilizing students and promoting academic achievement at the individual, school, and district level.
This brief will assist school district administrators in
1. Understanding key qualifications necessary for a local liaison to carry out the many and complex responsibilities of the position;
2. Selecting a local liaison who has the experience, knowledge, skills, and attitude to perform effectively in the position; and
3. Ensuring the local liaison has the time, authority, and support to carry out his or her responsibilities.
This NCHE brief assists new local liaisons with: understanding the responsibilities of the local liaison position, becoming familiar with procedures and resources for serving homeless students in their LEA, determining where to target their time and effort, and identifying resources and support for becoming an effective local liaison.
Local homeless education liaisons are Local Educational Agency (LEA) staff responsible for ensuring the identification, school enrollment, attendance, and opportunities for academic success of students in homeless situations. Some of these activities may be performed by the local liaison himself or herself, while others are accomplished by coordinating the efforts of other staff. National evaluations have found that local liaisons are an important factor contributing to the success of a school district’s homeless education program; therefore, the McKinney-Vento Act now requires every LEA to appoint a local homeless education liaison and specifies his or her legal responsibilities. Local liaisons play a critical role in stabilizing students and promoting academic achievement at the individual, school, and district level.
A Homeless Educator’s Sourcebook Perspectives on Educating Children and Youth in Highly Mobile and Homeless Situations
This resource provides a link to the Texas Education Agency website page that outlines the dispute resolution process and timelines for LEAs in Texas. Click here to access the website.
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Disclosure of Student Information Related to Emergencies and Disasters (June 2010)
The purpose of this guidance is to answer questions that have arisen about the sharing of personally identifiable information from students’ education records to outside parties when responding to emergencies, including natural or man-made disasters. Understanding how, what, and when information can be shared with outside parties is an important part of emergency preparedness.
McKinney-Vento Law Into Practice Brief Series
The Educational Rights of Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness:
What Service Providers Need to Know
It is important for service providers to pay specific attention to the McKinney-Vento education subtitle’s definition of homeless, as this definition includes certain types of living arrangements that other federal laws omit. For instance, families living doubled-up or in motels or hotels are considered eligible for services under the Act, while these same populations are not considered eligible under some other federal laws dealing with the issue of homelessness.
This guide was developed with the philosophy that schools can make a difference. Schools can provide a stabilizing environment, a haven from the chaos of homelessness. Schools can provide the quality of educational experience to empower students in homeless situations to break the cycles of poverty, dependency, and homelessness. Schools can provide a critical link between the community and children without homes and their families. Children and youth in homeless situations are indeed educable and very capable of positively contributing to the betterment of our society. This guide helps schools answer the questions: What can we do to help children and youth in highly mobile and homeless situations? How can we help children and youth without homes learn?
Compilation of Texas Association of School Boards policy text addressing McKinney–Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements Act of 2001. The text that follows is from TASB policy CNA (LEGAL): Student Transportation, as issued in Update 71, Issued Date, 09/30/03.
This “to the administrator addressed” letter, released August 25, 2015, addresses legislation passed by the 84th Texas Legislature relating to truancy and on-campus discipline.
TEA’s Chief Legal Counsel updates this letter every year and releases it just prior to the start of the school year. This “to the administrator addressed” letter summarizes important statutes relating to student attendance, public school admission, enrollment records, and tuition. Part I of the letter relates to compulsory attendance, Part II relates to attendance… Read more »
Lawyers Working To End Homelessness
The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (NLCHP) is the only national legal advocacy organization dedicated to ending and preventing homelessness. Our attorneys go into courtrooms and the halls of our legislatures to protect the needs of society’s most vulnerable members.
Through impact litigation, policy advocacy, and public education we ad- dress the root causes of homelessness at the local, state, and national levels.
Despite McKinney-Vento, homeless children and youth sometimes need help enrolling and participating in school. Various individuals can, and should, step forward to provide assistance. Parents, relatives, family friends, school and school district personnel, shelter providers, youth program workers, social workers, advocates, and the students themselves can all play a role in helping young people get an education. If you are such a person, this booklet will get you started.
