Students Experiencing Homelessness
Student Services
Students Experiencing Homelessness
We’re Here to Help
Prefer to call? Reach the district office at 206-842-4714, or talk with your school counselor or school office.
Resources
Are you living in temporary or unstable housing?
We are here to partner with you and support you!
If you are experiencing housing insecurity (which includes living in a shelter, a vehicle or park, in a hotel/motel, or with more than one family in a home), or you are an unaccompanied youth, please fill out the housing questionnaire. Additional resources may be available to support you.
Return the completed form to your student’s school counselor or the school office. If you have questions or would like help completing the form, reach out to our social worker or McKinney-Vento liaison listed on this page.
Student Housing Questionnaire →
Your information will be kept confidential. Reaching out is the first step toward getting your student the support they’re entitled to.
Your Student’s Rights at a Glance
Stay at Their School
When it’s in the student’s best interest, students can keep attending their school of origin while experiencing homelessness, and through the end of the school year in which they find permanent housing.
Transportation
Students are entitled to transportation to their school of origin or to the school where they enroll.
Access to Services
Students receive the district services they are eligible for, such as school meals, special education, Title I, preschool and more.
A Dedicated Liaison
BISD’s McKinney-Vento liaison works with families, community agencies and other school districts to support students.
Enrollment Rights and Services
To the extent practical and as required by law, the district will work with students experiencing homelessness and their families to provide stability in school attendance and other services. Special attention will be given to ensuring the enrollment and attendance of students experiencing homelessness not currently attending school. Students experiencing homelessness will be provided district services for which they are eligible, including Head Start and comparable preschool programs, Title I, and similar state programs, special education, bilingual education, vocational and technical education programs, gifted and talented programs, and school nutrition programs.
Homeless students are defined as lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, including:
- Sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing or economic hardship;
- Living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations;
- Living in emergency or transitional shelters;
- Abandoned in hospitals;
- Awaiting foster care placement;
- Living in public or private places not designed for or ordinarily used as regular sleeping accommodation for human beings;
- Living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, transportation stations, or similar settings;
- Migratory children living in conditions described in the previous examples.
According to the child’s or youth’s best interest, homeless students will continue to be enrolled in their school of origin while they remain homeless or until the end of the academic year in which they obtain permanent housing. Parents or guardians of homeless students may request enrollment in the school in which attendance area the student is actually living, or other schools.
Homeless students are entitled to transportation to their school of origin or the school where they are to be enrolled. If the school of origin is in a different district, or a homeless student is living in another district but will attend his or her school of origin in this district, the districts will coordinate the transportation services necessary for the student, or will divide the costs equally.
The district’s liaison for homeless students and their families shall coordinate with local social service agencies that provide services to homeless children and youths and their families; other school districts on issues of transportation and records transfers; and state and local housing agencies responsible for comprehensive housing affordability strategies.