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School Transportation FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN & YOUTH

Questions?

David Ray Region 10 Education Service Center Homeless Educationwww.Region10.org/MVH --Foster Carewww.Region10.org/FosterCare Recorded Webinars, Upcoming Webinars, News from TEA and Commonly Requested Documents

Texas Homeless Education Office Directory of Homeless Liaisons Fact Sheets Order Form for Posters and Pamphlets (free of charge) TEXSHEP Grant Information (toll free)

Non-Agenda We will not spend anytime debating the moral or ethical pros and cons in regards to providing services to homeless people.

Agenda Data and Quick Homeless Education Overview What Does McKinney-Vento Say About Transportation? What Does Texas Education Code Say About Transportation? What Does Your Local Policy Say About Transportation? Determining Feasibility & Federal Guidance Scenarios Questions?

Data (Region 10) 812,655 total students 8,128 students coded as homeless in PEIMS 1.0% of all students in Region 10 were homeless at one point during the academic year.

ISS Data All students are assigned to ISS at a rate of 13.9% Homeless students are assigned to ISS at a rate of 37.1% (number of referrals/number of students)

ISS Data Students who are homeless represent only 1.0% of the total population, but they represent 2.6% of the assignments to ISS.

OSS Data All students are assigned to OSS at a rate of 7.0% Homeless students are assigned to OSS at a rate of 18.1% (number of referrals/number of students)

Discipline Incident Data Discipline incidents occur for all students at a rate of 13.3% Discipline incidents occur for homeless students at a rate of 67.0% (number of incidents/number of students)

Discipline Incidents Students who are homeless represent only 1.0% of the total population, but they represent 4.8% of the discipline incidents.

The Result Is… …extended time away from the classroom. How many of our homeless students are also “homeless at school?” - Do they connect with teachers? - Do they connect with other students? - Are they involved in something at school that is meaningful to them? - Is the only adult they connect with the ISS teacher?

PEIMS Coding No paperwork required. “Students are to be enrolled immediately, even if lacking paperwork normally required for enrollment.”

PEIMS Coding Homeless PEIMS Indicators— 100 Record—Column 79 0Student is not homeless at anytime during the year. 1 Student was homeless at anytime during the year, and started their homelessness as sheltered. (8.8%) 2 Student was homeless at anytime during the year, and started their homelessness as doubled up. (80.2%) 3 Student was homeless at anytime during the year, and started their homelessness as unsheltered. (1.9%) 4 Student was homeless at anytime during the year, and started their homelessness as unsheltered. (9.1%)

PEIMS Coding Homeless Unaccompanied Youth PEIMS Indicators— 100 Record—Column 80 3 A homeless student was in the physical custody of their parent or guardian at all times during the academic year. 4 A homeless student was not in the physical custody of their parent or guardian at anytime during the academic year.

NET We want to catch these students in our NET

Nutrition Students who are homeless are automatically eligible for all USDA nutrition services.

Enrollment McKinney-Vento allows students identified as homeless to enroll in either their school of origin or their new local attendance zone. Texas Education Code allows students who are homeless to immediately enroll in Texas LEAs Admissions

Transportation

What does McKinney-Vento Say? (iii) the State and its local educational agencies will adopt policies and practices to ensure that transportation is provided, at the request of the parent or guardian (or in the case of an unaccompanied youth, the liaison), to and from the school of origin, as determined in paragraph (3)(A), in accordance with the following, as applicable: (I) If the homeless child or youth continues to live in the area served by the local educational agency in which the school of origin is located, the child's or youth's transportation to and from the school of origin shall be provided or arranged by the local educational agency in which the school of origin is located. (II) If the homeless child's or youth's living arrangements in the area served by the local educational agency of origin terminate and the child or youth, though continuing his or her education in the school of origin, begins living in an area served by another local educational agency, the local educational agency of origin and the local educational agency in which the homeless child or youth is living shall agree upon a method to apportion the responsibility and costs for providing the child with transportation to and from the school of origin. If the local educational agencies are unable to agree upon such method, the responsibility and costs for transportation shall be shared equally.

School of Origin According to McKinney-Vento: SCHOOL OF ORIGIN DEFINED– The term `school of origin' means the school that the child or youth attended when permanently housed or the school in which the child or youth was last enrolled. Also: (vii) the parent or guardian of a homeless child or youth, and any unaccompanied youth, is fully informed of all transportation services, including transportation to the school of origin, as described in paragraph (1)(J)(iii), and is assisted in accessing transportation to the school that is selected under paragraph (3)(A).

Part 1 Transportation (M-V) Students residing in an LEA who move from one area of the LEA to another, are provided transportation back to their SoO. The LEA where the student is living and attending is responsible for the entire cost of the transporting this student.

Part 1 Example Janet currently lives doubled-up in west Blato ISD. Her school of origin is East Blato Middle School. She has the right to receive transportation back to East Blato MS. Blato ISD is responsible for the entire cost of this transportation.

Part 2 Transportation (M-V) A student becomes homeless and must relocate temporarily outside of the LEAs boundaries. The student has the right to receive transportation back to their school of origin. The two LEAs involved should coordinate to determine how to best transport this student. If the LEAs can not come to an agreement the cost is to be split equally.

Part 2 Example Tyler is homeless and living in a shelter with his family in Corral Sage ISD. His school of origin is in Wayne ISD. Tyler has the right to transportation back to his school of origin. Corral Sage ISD and Wayne ISD should coordinate to determine how to best provide transportation for this student.

Texas Education Code Does not address the transportation of homeless children and youth.

Local Policies and Procedures Do you have them? Part 1: Procedure for determining a student’s school of origin Part 2: Procedure for determining feasibility of transportation Part 3: Coordination with transportation department to explore options Part 4: Coordination and communication with the family and student throughout

Feasibility and the Federal Guidance st.pdfhttp:// st.pdf

Other Types of Transportation are Comparable Before and After School Activities and Tutorials Transportation for Parent/Teacher Conferences Transportation for Pre-School and Head Start (no SoO) Transportation for Field Trips and other academic related activities

Paying for Transportation dfhttp:// df

Discipline and Truancy

Scenario 1 A student attending Albeef ISD looses his housing on October 1 st. They are living in a hotel/motel a few districts away from Friarly ISD. They want to enroll in Friarly ISD because their son has friends in that area and they plan on relocating to that area once they are back on their feet. Can the student enroll in Friarly ISD? Why or why not? If so, who is responsible for the transportation of this student to and from school?

Scenario 2 Julie, who attends your school, ran away from home after her mother’s boyfriend started saying abusive things to her. She is currently sleeping on her Aunt’s couch in a district that is 45 miles away. Is she homeless? Is she unaccompanied? What are her options for transportation? What are some possible steps a district could go through in order to determine whether or not transportation would be appropriate in this situation.

Scenario 3 Kevin, 14, became homeless over the summer. He was attending your school last year and is now living with church friends, doubled-up, in a neighboring district. Does he have a school of origin? Who is responsible for transporting this student?

Scenario 4 Charles is homeless and doubled-up with family friends. When he first lost his housing he was attending your school and doing well academically. After the loss of housing, he was given the option to remain in his school of origin. However, he chose to attend the school that was zoned for his temporary living arrangement. Charles does not fit in well at his new school and has called you to see if he could return? Which school can Charles enroll in? Which school is his School of Origin? Can Charles take advantage of any transportation services? Who is responsible for transporting Charles?

Scenario 5 David’s mother died about a year ago. She was the primary wage-earner for the family. Since she died his family lost their housing and is living in different hotels depending on when his father can get work. Sometimes these hotels are in your district. Sometimes they are not in your district. Other times they double-up with families for short periods. What are the enrollment options for this student? What are the transportation options for this student? Who is responsible for transporting this student?

Questions