1. Transporting Homeless Students
Florida Pupil Transportation Services Directors Meeting
February 10, 2017
Tallahassee, Florida
Good afternoon.
My name is Skip Forsyth.
I am the Director of the Department’s Homeless Education Program.
Most of you will remember Lorraine Allen as the director.
Lorraine retired at the end of November.
She did a great job and I hope to fill her shoes some day.
With me today is Courtney Walker.
Courtney is the Program Specialist for the program.
Unfortunately, we don’t have time for any extended discussions today.
Please ask questions to clarify information on the slides, but if you have questions about a particular case or kind of issue, please wait until the end of the presentation or send an with your question.
My contact information is on the last slide.

2. Today’s Session McKinney-Vento Act - Overview
McKinney-Vento Act - Transportation Provisions for LEAs
School stability and school selection
Immediate enrollment
Comparable transportation services
Charter schools transportation
Resources
As you are aware the President signed the latest amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act into law on December 19.
Portions of the law will go into effect on July 1, 2016 and then other parts until it is fully implemented in 2017.
There are no significant changes affecting homeless education, though there are clarifications, some of which affect transportation.
We will take a preliminary look at those as well as a quick review of the basic transportation principals of McKinney-Vento 2

3. Transportation: NCLB ESSA
ESSA signed into law on December 10, 2015
USDE guidance published 7/27/16
Transportation provisions remain pretty much the same.
Review the points.

4. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act
Main Themes
School Stability
Academic Success
School Access
Protects the educational rights of children and youth experiencing homelessness
Federal law
First enacted in 1987
Reauthorized in 2015 as Title IX of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
The general purposes did not change from NCLB
Review the points. 4

5. Who is covered under McKinney-Vento?5

6. Who is covered under McKinney-Vento?
All students who lack a nighttime residence that is:
Fixed
Adequate
Regular
Review definition. 6

7. Examples of Temporary Housing in the McKinney-Vento Act
Sharing the housing of others due to loss of housing, economic hardship or other similar reason; doubled up
Living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, camping grounds
Living in emergency or transitional shelters
Abandoned in hospitals
Awaiting foster care placement
Living a in public or private place not designed for sleeping
Living in cars, parks, abandoned buildings, bus or train stations, etc.
Migratory living in circumstances described above
(M-V Section 725)
Removed on 12/10/2016
These are examples provided for the definition.
There will be one change (click)
Children ‘awaiting foster care placement’ will no longer be covered under McKinney-Vento, but under the foster care provisions in Title I.
The initiation timeline for this change is not clear at this time. 7

8. students were identified as homeless in Florida’s public schools
How many
Florida students
were identified
as homeless
in our schools
during ?
72,995
students were identified
as homeless in Florida’s public schools
(about the same as for )
Review the information on the slide.
Source: Final Survey 5 Homeless Counts as of 12/18/14, FDOE 8

9. What Rights Does McKinney-Vento Provide?
Immediate Enrollment
School Stability & School Selection
Free Meals
School of Origin Transportation
Review the general provisions of the MVA.
School stability and selection and immediate enrollment are key provisions for transportation. 9

10. School Stability (s.722(g)(3)(B))
In determining the best interest of a (homeless) child or youth (i) presume that keeping the child or youth in the school of origin is in their best interest, except when doing so is contrary to the request of the child's or youth's parent or guardian (ii) consider student-centered factors related to best interest, including the impact of mobility on achievement, education, health, and safety of homeless children and youth, giving priority to the request of the child’s or youth’s parent or guardian (iii) if, after conducting the best interest determination, the LEA determines that it is not in the child’s or youth’s best interest to attend the school of origin or the school requested by the parent or guardian, provide a written explanation of the reasons for its determination (and) information regarding the right to appeal

11. School Stability and School Selection
School Selection Options:
School of origin: the school that a child or you attended when permanently housed or the school in which the child or youth was last enrolled (s.722(g)(3)(I)(i)), for the duration of homelessness (s.722(g)(3)(A)(i)), or . . .
Other school options: any public school that non-homeless students who live in the attendance area are eligible to attend (s.722(g)(3)(A)(ii))
Primary Decision Makers (s.722(g)(3)(B)(i)): parents, guardians, homeless youth, together with the homeless liaison, if the youth is unaccompanied 11

12. School Stability and School Selection
(i) (LEAs, per s.722(g)(1)(J)) ensure that transportation is provided, at the request of the parent or guardian, or the liaison for an unaccompanied youth, to and from the school of origin, in accordance with the following . . .
(I) If the child or youth continues to live in the area served by the LEA 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 LEA in which the school of origin is located.
(II) If the child's or youth's living arrangements in the area served by the LEA 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 LEA, the LEA of origin and the LEA in which the child or youth is living shall agree upon a method to apportion the responsibility and costs for providing the child or youth with transportation to and from the school of origin . . .

13. School Stability and School Selection:
When Homeless Students Become Permanently Housed
s.722(g)(3)(A) . . .
(i) (the LEA will) continue the child's or youth's education in the school of origin for the duration of homelessness—
(II) for the remainder of the academic year, if the child or youth becomes permanently housed during an academic year
USDE Guidance:
J-5. Must LEAs continue to provide transportation to and from the school of origin for formerly homeless students who have become permanently housed?
Yes. LEAs must continue to provide transportation to and from the school of origin to formerly homeless students who have become permanently housed for the remainder of the academic year during which the child or youth becomes permanently housed. (s.722(g)(3)(A)(i)(II)).
This change should not create significant procedural changes in Florida as districts have defined feasibility in “best interest” terms for a number of years.

14. School Stability and School Selection
s.722(g)(3)(B) . . .
(i) presume that keeping the child or youth in the school of origin is in the child’s or youth’s best interest, except when doing so is contrary to the request of the child's or youth's parent or guardian, or (in the case of an unaccompanied youth) the youth
“to the extent feasible” has been removed.

15. School Stability and School Selection Sample Best Interest Considerations
Continuity of instruction
Student age & grade placement
Student academic strengths
Student social & emotional state
Impact of the commute on student’s ability to fully participate in the school’s educational programs and extra curricular activities and to meet special needs
Student’s personal safety
Need for special instruction
Anticipated length of stay in a temporary location
Address these issues for both the school of origin and the zoned school.
Review the points on the slide. 15

16. IMMEDIATE ENROLLMENT
SEC DEFINITIONS.
The terms `enroll' and `enrollment' include attending classes and participating fully in school activities.
the child or youth shall be immediately enrolled in the school in which enrollment is sought (s.722(g)(3)(E)(i))

17. IMMEDIATE ENROLLMENT
the (homeless) child or youth shall be immediately enrolled in the school in which enrollment is sought (s.722(g)(3)(E)(i))
The school selected (by the parent, guardian, or the Liaison for a UHY) shall immediately enroll the homeless child or youth (s.722(g)(3)(C)(i))*
*if school of origin is selected, then continued attendance in class is also immediate.
Not new provisions.

18. IMMEDIATE ENROLLMENT Homeless Liaison ensures that . . . (s.722(g)(6))
homeless children and youth are identified
homeless children and youth are enrolled and have full and equal opportunity to succeed in school
parents/guardians of homeless children and youth or unaccompanied homeless youth are fully informed of all transportation services, including transportation to the school of origin and are assisted in accessing transportation to that school.
Not new provisions.

19. IMMEDIATE ENROLLMENT LEA Responsibilities . . .
review and revise any policies that may act as barriers to the identification of homeless children and youths or the (immediate) enrollment of homeless children and youths in schools that are selected in accordance with school selection provisions in s.722(g)(3).
Since it generally takes time to identify and set up routes and inform drivers and parents of changes in route and pick up times, alternative methods of transportation assistance, e.g., gas cards, bus passes, other district vehicle, etc., are employed, while routes are arranged.
These are the district responsibilities.

20. Comparable Services
s.722(g)(4) provides that each homeless child or youth shall be provided services comparable to services offered to other students in the school selected under paragraph (3), including the following:
(A) Transportation services.
Regular attendance zone services
Other home-to-school-to-home services
Activity-related school-sponsored services 20

21. Best LEA Practices in SOO Transportation
Alternative transportation is in place for period between student becoming homeless and bus route being created to ensure timely transportation to school of origin.
A designated a staff (and a back-up) receives homeless student school of origin transportation requests from the Homeless Liaison.
Designated transportation specialists determine the best transportation options for school of origin requests.
Coordinate with ESE, charter, magnet school transportation requests, when it is in the best interest of the student.
Execute inter-district school of origin transportation agreements with neighboring LEAs.
Employ an automated transportation request system.
Best transportation practices are those in which district transportation staff re-route, extend, and create transfer points on current bus routes to ensure timely transportation to school of origin.
Provide for their reading.

22. Use of Federal funds For Transportation
Title I, Part A funds can be used cover excess transportation costs related to the transportation of homeless children and youth to their schools of origin.
TIPA must also meet their primary TIPA obligations
To use TIPA funds for excess transportation costs, must put this expense in the LEA’s approved TIPA budget.
Congress appropriated no additional Title I, Part A funds for this expense.
Up to 3% of Title X, Part C sub-grant funds may be used for alternative transportation costs that assure unbroken school attendance.
It reverses a USDE’s interpretation of the Title I, Part A statute which prohibited the use of Title I, Part A dollars to transport homeless children and youth to their schools of origin.
It also clarifies that Title I, Part A dollars can serve the unique needs of homeless students by providing services different from those ordinarily provided with Title I, Part A funds, and that Title I, Part A funds can support McKinney-Vento homeless liaisons.
It allows school districts greater flexibility in how they use their Title I dollars to meet the needs of this vulnerable population. 22

23. Transportation of Homeless Students Charter Schools23

24. Transportation of Homeless Students Charter Schools
Ultimately, transportation of homeless students is the LEA’s responsibility, including homeless students enrolled in charter schools under certain circumstances.
Whether the LEA does or does not transport non-homeless students to a charter school is not a factor in the McKinney-Vento provision that the LEA must provide or arrange transportation for homeless students if a charter school is their school of origin.
Unless otherwise provided for in the charter, charter schools receive their share of transportation funds for eligible students.  Therefore, the charter school and the school district can work together to make arrangements so that transportation is not a barrier to equal access for homeless students. 
FDOE TAP on transportation of homeless charter school Students: homeless_student_transportation_tap.pdf
No Changes in ESSA
If school district has arranged with the charter school to provide transportation for homeless students, then the charter school would be responsible.
OIEPC = Office of Independent Education and Parental Choices

25. Homeless Transportation and Charter Schools
Discussion
If a student in a charter school becomes homeless, the charter school should cooperate with the school district in making arrangements so that transportation is not a barrier to equal access for homeless students residing within a reasonable distance of the charter school as determined in its charter.
The Department of Education encourages new charter school founders and school district representatives to discuss this situation when negotiating charter contracts or renewals. Please consider how this situation relates to transportation funding, district school board policies, and general transportation provisions in the charter contract. The Department recommends specifically addressing procedures for providing transportation to homeless students in the charter contract.
If a student is homeless at the time that he/she is enrolled in a charter school, then the transportation requirement is the transportation provision described in the school’s charter.
If a student becomes homeless after enrollment, then the charter school is the student’s school of origin and McKinney-Vento school of origin transportation is to be provided by the district, unless otherwise provided for in the school’s charter.
If the charter school is responsible for homeless student SOO transportation and fails to meet that responsibility, the responsibility falls to the district. 25

26. Outstanding Transportation Issues

27. Expansion of Definition of School of Origin
Preschool
s.722(g)(3)(I): The term `school of origin' means the school that a child or youth attended when permanently housed or the school in which the child or youth was last enrolled, including a preschool.
(J) Assurances that the following will be carried out--
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
Florida does not have universal Pre-k, so it is not clear how this provision applies. Stay tuned.

28. Expansion of Definition of School of Origin
Designated Receiving School
s.722(g)(3)(I)(ii): RECEIVING SCHOOL.—When the child or youth completes the final grade level served by the school of origin, as described in clause (i), the term “school of origin” shall include the designated receiving school at the next grade level for all feeder schools.
(J) Assurances that the following will be carried out--
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.
Florida LEAs do not designate receiving schools, so it is not clear how this provision applies. Stay tuned.

29. OTHER RESOURCES

30. Sample
Inter-District
Transportation
Agreement

31. National Center for Homeless Education
Transporting Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness Brief
(Updated Winter 2014)

32. Transportation Resources @ NCHE(
Inter-District Agreements
District-Parent Agreements
School District Transportation Brochures for Parents
More . . .

33. Homeless Education Program Bureau of Federal Educational Programs
Staff Contact Information
Skip Forsyth, Program Director Phone: (850) Courtney Walker, Program Specialist Phone:
Bureau of Federal Educational Programs