Macon County Schools

MISSION STATEMENT

Connected to assist homeless children and youth equivalent access to public education as provided to other students by enrolling homeless students in the school that is in their best interest and provide prompt and sensitive service to parents, children and youth in need of assistance.

VISION STATEMENT

MOTTO

Help and Healing the Hurt…Restoring the Hope!

HOMELESS EDUCATION GOALS

Goal 1:  To identify children and youth who are homeless

Goal 2:  To enroll homeless children in school

Goal 3:  To provide intervention services to homeless students

Goal 4:  To track homeless students

Goal 5:  To provide awareness to staff, students, parents,

                            and community agencies

The McKinney-Vento Children and Youth Homeless Education Program implemented in Macon County Public Schools is designed to provide services to homeless children and youth ensuring that they have the same opportunity as non-homeless children to meet with school success. The program addresses concerns that homeless students may face in enrolling, attending and succeeding in school. 

It is the policy of the Macon County Board of Education to employ practices that increase the awareness of the Homeless Education program.  The district shall notify parents/guardians of homeless children and youth of available resources and assist them in accessing the resources.

The Macon County School District shall conduct an annual evaluation of its Homeless Education Program to determine the effectiveness of the program. The system will adjust practices and procedures as needed to improve the effectiveness of implementation and student achievement.

For the purpose of identifying homeless children and youth, the Macon County School District shall use the McKinney-Vento Act’s definition of homeless children and youth. The Act defines homeless children and youth (twenty-one years of age and younger) as:

Children and youth who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, and includes children and youth who are:

- Sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or similar reason (sometimes referred to as doubled-up);

- living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to lack of alternative adequate accommodations;

- living in emergency or transitional shelters;

- abandoned in hospitals; or

- awaiting foster care placement.

Children and youth 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.

Children and youth who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings.

Migratory children who qualify as homeless because they are living in circumstances described above.

The term unaccompanied youth includes a youth not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian. This includes youth living in runaway shelters, abandoned buildings, cars on the streets, or in other inadequate housing, and children and youth denied housing by their families (sometimes referred to as “throwaway” children and youth), and school-age unwed mothers, living in homes for unwed mothers, who have no other housing available.

The school of origin is the school that the child or youth attended when permanently housed or the school in which the child or youth was last enrolled.

The homeless liaison shall work to ensure that homeless children and youth, including preschoolers are identified, enrolled in school, and receive all eligible services to facilitate student academic success. The responsibilities listed below are not all-inclusive but shall be primary duties of the liaison. The homeless liaison shall ensure that:

• Homeless children and youth are identified by school personnel and through coordination activities with other entities and agencies;
• Homeless students enroll in, and have full and equal opportunity to succeed in, the schools of the district;
• Homeless children and youth receive educational services for which they are eligible, including Head Start, and preschool programs administered by the school system, and referrals to health, mental health, dental and other appropriate services;
• Parents or guardians of homeless children and youth are informed of educational and related opportunities available to their children, and are provided with meaningful opportunities to participate in the education  of their children;
• Parents and guardians and unaccompanied youth are fully informed of all transportation services, including transportation to and from the school of origin, and are assisted in accessing transportation services;
• Transportation cost disputes between the school system and school system of enrollment are resolved;
• Sensitivity and confidentiality training is provided to transportation and school personnel regarding the needs of homeless children and youth;
• Enrollment disputes are mediated in accordance with the requirements of the McKinney-Vento Act;
• Public notice of the educational rights of homeless students is disseminated to locations where children and youth receive services under the Act;
• Required reports concerning the homeless education program are submitted to appropriate agencies and the State Department of Education; and
• Evaluation of the homeless education program is conducted annually and necessary program and implementation adjustments are made in a timely manner.

All homeless students shall be provided with services that are comparable to services offered to other students in the school in which the child is enrolled, including:

1. Transportation services;

2. Educational services for which the child meets the eligibility criteria;

3. Programs in vocational and technical educational;

4. Programs for gifted and talented students; and

5. School nutrition programs.

Funding for the support of services for homeless students in Title I schools will be provided through the Title I program at the school. Funding is available through Title I set-aside funds for non-Title I schools. Homeless students will be provided school supplies, backpacks and/or school uniforms to eliminate any barriers to their enrollment, attendance or success in school. Fees for credit recovery or career tech class may also be paid.

       Terri B. Holcey

• To provide a free and appropriate education for homeless students.
• To provide the tools, services and support to enable homeless students to meet challenging academic standards.
• To increase the identification of homeless children in Macon County Public Schools.
• To increase the awareness among community agencies, parents and school personnel of the services available to these students.