If your family lives in any of the following situations: in an emergency or transitional shelter, motel, vehicle or campground; on the street; in an abandoned building, trailer, or other inadequate accommodations; or double up with friends or relatives because you cannot find or afford housing, abandoned in a hospital, awaiting foster care placement, than you fall under the definition of homeless.
Under the McKinney-Vento Act, children in a homeless situation have the right to:
• Go to school no matter where they live or how long they have lived there.
• Attend either the local school or the school of origin, if this is in their best interest. The school of origin is the school the child attended when he/she was permanently housed or the school in which the child was last enrolled.
• Receive transportation to and from the school of origin.
• Enroll in school immediately, even if missing records and documents normally required for enrollment such as birth certificate, proof of residence, previous school records, or
immunization/medical records.
• Have access to the same programs and services that are available to all other students including transportation and supplemental educational services.
• Attend school with children not experiencing homelessness. Segregation based on a student’s status as homeless is prohibited. PARENTS: When you move, you should do the following: • Contact the school district’s local liaison for homeless education for help in enrolling your child in a new school or arranging for your child to continue in his or her former school.
• Contact the school and provide any information you think will assist the teachers in helping your child adjust to new circumstances.
• Ask the local liaison for homeless education, the shelter provider, or a social worker for assistance with clothing and supplies, if needed.
LOCAL AREA CONTACTS: Guidance Counselors: Connie Euans, 563-562-3226 and Mary Kleve, 563-532-9365.