McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Program

  • The McKinney-Vento program addresses the problems that homeless children and youth have with enrolling, attending, and succeeding in school.

    This federal legislation was originally authorized in 1987 and most recently re-authorized in December 2015 by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This legislation ensures children and youth experiencing homelessness have immediate and equal access to public education. All Texas public schools, charter schools, and education services centers, collectively known as local education agencies (LEAs), must follow federal rules concerning the education of homeless students. Texas Education Code (TEC) §§ 25.001, 25.002, and 29.153 address educational rights for homeless students.  

    Who is homeless? (Sec. 725) The term "homeless children and youth"—

    (A) means individuals who lack 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 accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement;

    (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).

    McKinney-Vento Parent's Notice of Rights

    There is an identified school counselor at each campus who serves as the Campus Homeless Liaison; please call the campus office to connect with them. For additional support, please contact: 

    Leigh Cook, District Liaison
    Director of Federal Programs & Academic Compliance
    817-744-1296
    leigh.cook@kellerisd.net 

    Sharon Murphy
    Secretary to the Federal Programs Director
    817-744-1048
    sharon.murphy@kellerisd.net

    Click Here for McKinney-Vento Resources Available to Students & Families