Quick Guide to Important Sections of the McKinney-Vento
Act
Definitions in the law:
Enrollment
The terms
“enroll” and “enrollment”: include attending classes and participating fully in
school activities. (42 U.S.C. § 11434a(1)).
Homeless
The term “homeless children and
youths”—
(A) means individuals who lack a
fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime
residence …; and
(B) includes—
(i) children
and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing,
economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer
parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate
accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; or are abandoned
in hospitals;
(ii) children
and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or
ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings…;
(iii) children
and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train
stations, or similar settings; and
(iv) migratory
children … who qualify as homeless for the purposes of this subtitle because the children are living in
circumstances described in clauses (i) through (iii). (42 U.S.C. § 11434a(2)).
Unaccompanied Youth
The term “unaccompanied youth”
includes a homeless child or youth not in the
physical custody of a parent or
guardian. (42 U.S.C. § 11434a(6)).
School of Origin
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. (42 U.S.C. § 11432(g)(3)(I)(i)).
Receiving
School
When the child
or youth completes the first 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. (42
U.S.C. § 11432(g)(3)(I)(ii)).
In addition, you should be very familiar with sections of the law on:
School
Enrollment
The local
educational agency serving each child or youth to be assisted under this
subtitle shall, according to the child’s or youth’s best interest—
(i)
continue the child’s or youth’s education in the school of origin for
the duration of homelessness—
(I) in any case
in which a family becomes homeless between
academic years or during an academic year; and
(II) for the
remainder of the academic year, if the child or youth becomes permanently housed during an academic year; or
(ii) enroll the
child or youth in any public school that nonhomeless students who live in the
attendance area in which the child or youth is actually living are eligible to
attend. (42 U.S.C. § 11432(g)(3)(A)).
School Stability
In determining the best interest of the child or youth under subparagraph
(A) [cited above], the local educational agency shall—
(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;
(ii) consider student-centered
factors related to the child’s or youth’s
best
interest, including factors related to 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 or (in the case of an unaccompanied youth) the youth; … (42 U.S.C. § 11432(g)(3)(B)).
Immediate
Enrollment
The school
selected in accordance with this paragraph shall immediately enroll the
homeless child or youth, even if the child or youth—
(I) is unable
to produce records normally required for enrollment, such as previous academic
records, records of immunization or other required health records, proof of
residency, or other documentation; or
(II) has missed
application or enrollment deadlines during any period of homelessness. (42
U.S.C. § 11432(g)(3)(C)).
Transportation
to the School of Origin
The State and the
local educational agencies in the State 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… in accordance with the following, as applicable:
(I) If the
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
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 the child’s or youth’s 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 or youth 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. (42 U.S.C. § 11432(g)(1)(J)(iii)).
Segregation
and Stigmatization
The State
educational agency and local educational agencies in the State will adopt
policies and practices to ensure that homeless children and youths are not
stigmatized or segregated on the basis of their status as homeless. (42 U.S.C.
§ 11432(g)(1)(J)(i)).