Transporting Homeless Students

1. Florida Pupil Transportation Services Directors Meeting February 10, 2017 Tallahassee, Florida Transporting Homeless Students

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 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.

4. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act 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 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: 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 7

8. How many Florida students were identified as homeless in our schools during 2015-2016? 72,995 students were identified as homeless in Florida’s public schools (about the same as for 2014-2015) Source: 2013-2014 Final Survey 5 Homeless Counts as of 12/18/14, FDOE

9. What Rights Does McKinney-Vento Provide? 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)).

14. School Stability and School Selection s.722(g)(3)(B) . . . (i) presume that keepingthe 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 SelectionSample 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. 15

16. IMMEDIATE ENROLLMENT SEC. 725. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 22

23. Transportation of Homeless StudentsCharter Schools 23

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: http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/7704/urlt/0070868-homeless_student_transportation_tap.pdf

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. 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) http://center.serve.org/nche/downloads/briefs/transportation.pdf

32. Transportation • Resources @ NCHE • (http://center.serve.org/nche/) • Inter-District Agreements • District-Parent Agreements • School District Transportation Brochures for Parents • More . . .

33. Skip Forsyth, Program Director Phone: (850) 245-0089 skip.forsyth@fldoe.org Courtney Walker, Program Specialist Phone: 850-245-9946 courtney.walker@fldoe.org Homeless Education Program http://www.fldoe.org/policy/federal-edu-programs/title-x-homeless-edu-program-hep.stml Staff Contact Information Bureau of Federal Educational Programs http://www.fldoe.org/policy/federal-edu-programs/