Milan Special School District

Educating leaders of character

Students in Transition

 Homeless Students:

The Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) program, authorized under the Title VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Act, was reauthorized in Dec. 2015 by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

 What defines a homeless student?

Under the McKinney-Vento Act, the term ‘homeless students’ means individuals who lack a fixed regular, and adequate nighttime residence and includes students:

• Sharing the housing of others due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels/hotels, trailer parks (camping trailers), or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; or are abandoned in hospitals;

• Having a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodations for human beings;

• Living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings.

What can schools do?

Milan Special School District works to ensure that every student has access to a high-quality education. For homeless students, our schools can provide:

• Immediate enrollment, even if students don’t have the records normally required for enrollment;

• Transportation comparable to what is offered other students in district;

• Access to all programs and services for which they are eligible as provided to other students;

• Free breakfast and lunch.

 In addition, our schools will ensure that homeless students have access to any school supplies necessary for school.

 (refer to  MSSD board policy 6.503)

 Students in Foster Care:

School Districts are encouraged to develop and align protocols to All Means All Tennessee Department of Education 199

• Tennessee Department of Education(TDOE) has developed joint guidance through ongoing communication and collaboration with the Department of Children’s Services (DCS) to ensure the Title I Educational Stability Provisions for children and youth in foster care are implemented with fidelity;

• TDOE and local school districts have appointed a foster care point of contact to create policies and to provide oversight at the local level;

• TDOE provides assistance and encouragement to districts to review and revise polices that create barriers to the enrollment and attendance of children and youth in foster care;

• The educational stability team meets to review best interest factors. These factors include, but are not limited to the appropriateness of the current educational setting and proximity of placement. Transportation costs are not considered when determining a child’s best interest. DCS has the flexibility to determine additional factors to consider when making best interest determinations.

(refer to  MSSD board policy 6.505)

Migrant Education Program:

The Migrant Education Program (MEP) is authorized by Part C of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA). Grants provided through ESEA assist states in improving educational opportunities for migratory

children  to help them succeed in the regular school program, meet the same State academic content and student

academic achievement  standards that all children are expected to meet, and graduate from high school.

Goals of Tennessee’s Migrant Education Program:

• Ensure that migratory children fully benefit from the same free public education provided to other children;

• Assist in supporting high-quality and comprehensive educational programs for migratory children to help reduce the educational disruptions and other problems that result from repeated moves;

• Identify and serve children (between the ages of 3 and 21) who are, or whose parents or spouses are, migratory agricultural workers, including migratory dairy workers, or migratory fishermen, and who, in the preceding 36 months, traveled across division/state lines in order to obtain, or accompanied such parents or spouses, in order to obtain, temporary or seasonal employment in agricultural or fishing activity;

• Give priority to migratory children who are failing or most at risk of failing, to meet Tennessee's challenging content standards and whose education has been interrupted during the regular school year;

• Offer family literacy programs, integrate technology in educational and related programs, and facilitate the transition of secondary school students to post-secondary education or employment. 

Aims of Milan Special School District:  

• Work to ensure that every student has access to a high-quality education by providing a full range of services including applicable Title 1 programs, special education, gifted education, vocational education, language programs, counseling programs, elective classes, fine arts classes, etc;

• Identify migratory students and assess the educational and related health and social needs of each student;

• Provide children with the opportunity to meet the same statewide assessment standards that all students are expected to meet;

• Suggest advocacy and outreach programs to migratory students and their families and professional development for district staff, to the extent that is feasible;

• Offer parents an opportunity for meaningful participation in the program.

(refer to  MSSD board policy 6.504)

Milan Special School District homeless and migrant liaison & foster care point of contact:

Greg Scott, Supervisor