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Serving McKinney-Vento | Homeless
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act identifies and removes barriers for children and youth experiencing homelessness and ensures that students in these circumstances have equitable access to all available supports and resources to meet the same challenging state academic standards established for all students.
The McKinney-Vento Act provides rights and services to children and youth experiencing homelessness. This includes those who are:
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Sharing the housing of others due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason
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Staying in motels, trailer parks, or campgrounds due to the lack of an adequate alternative
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Staying in shelters or transitional housing; or sleeping in cars, parks, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, or similar settings.
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Homeless Student Identification Data/Infographics
Every LEA must identify students experiencing homelessness within their district. This process must be done regularly and in a way that is auditable. In Texas, most districts choose to use a student residency questionnaire to help determine whether or not students qualify as homeless under the McKinney-Vento Act. The TEHCY Program Infographic summarizes the identification and graduation data for students experiencing homelessness enrolled in Texas public schools.
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Homeless Student Enrollment
Students who are experiencing homelessness are to be enrolled immediately. Districts cannot require students experiencing homelessness to provide proof of residency, immunizations, birth certificates guardianship documents, or any other sort of required paperwork before enrolling. Requiring missing paperwork or any other delay to enrollment is a violation of the McKinney-Vento Act.
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Homeless Student School Determination
Students who are experiencing homelessness have the right to attend school in their school of origin or in the school in the attendance area where the family or youth is currently residing. School of origin is defined as the school in which the child/youth was enrolled when they became homeless or the school in which the child/youth was last enrolled. The campus a child attends is determined by which campus can serve the best interests of the child. In Texas, a student experiencing homelessness may enroll in any district they choose, regardless of the location of their residence, school of origin, or attendance zone campus. [TEC § 25.001(b)(5)]
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Disagreements over school enrollment and best interest determinations must be resolved through the dispute resolution process. While in the dispute resolution process the child is entitled to attend the campus in question until the matter is resolved.
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Students experiencing homelessness have the right to transportation to their school of origin. This provision applies even if a student moves outside of the school of origins’ attendance zone or district boundaries. School of origin transportation must continue for the duration of the child’s homelessness or until the end of the school year in which a child becomes permanently housed.
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Students experiencing homelessness who are not on a Title-I campus are eligible to receive Title-I services. These services are provided at the discretion of the LEA through existing Title-I programs or through the use of Title-I, Part A set-aside funds for students who are not on Title-I campuses. Students on Title-I campuses may receive additional supplemental services to the services being provided on their campus through the Title-I, Part A set-asides as well. Services may include personal school supplies, items of clothing that are necessary to meet a school’s dress requirement, immunizations, supplemental counseling services, tutoring, costs associated with credit recovery, or other similar activities to address a child’s opportunity for school success.
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