• McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act: Student & Parent Rights

    Students and/or parents who live in a shelter, motel, vehicle or campground, on the street, or in an abandoned building, trailer, or other inadequate accommodations because they cannot find or afford housing have certain rights and protections under the Homeless Education Act.
     
    Contact the Highlands School District local liaison officer for homeless education for information and assistance:
     
    Dr. Cathleen Cubelic 
    724-226-2400 
     
     

    Homelessness

    Federal guidelines, as set forth in No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and reauthorized by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2016, require that school districts identify children who are homeless.  The federal mandate, and the intention of Highlands School District, is to ensure that homeless children and youth have access to free appropriate public education on an equal basis with other children. Children who are homeless, including those living with others, may qualify for assistance  with school supplies/materials, with tutoring, and with transportation so that they can remain in their school of origin (the school where they were attending when they became homeless.)

    If you believe your child(ren) may qualify for this service, please contact the principal of your child(ren)'s school. 

    If you are a student and you are 'couch-surfing' with friends or do not have a place to stay that is adequate (has heat, water, food, a bed, a bathroom, etc.), you may qualify for support.  Just talk to your school counselor or principal.

    Homeless children may be identified as living in the following situations:

    Public or private shelters;

    Public or private places not designated for/or ordinarily used as regular sleeping accommodations such as vehicles, parks, motels, campgrounds, etc.;

    Living with a parent in a domestic violence shelter;

    Individuals and/or families living with relatives or friends due to a lack of housing;

    Living in transitional housing programs;

    Runaway children (under age 18) and children who have been abandoned or forced out of the home by parents or other caretakers. They may be in temporary shelters awaiting assistance from social service agencies, or may live alone on the street or move from place to place among family members, friends or acquaintances. This also includes such youth from  18 to 21 of age who may still be eligible for educational services in regular or special education;

    Children of migrant families who lack adequate housing;

    Children abandoned in hospitals or awaiting foster care; or

    School-age, unwed mothers or expectant mothers living in houses for unwed mothers when they have no other available living accommodations.
     

    If your living situation changes during the school year or over the summer, and you and your child(ren) become homeless, please be sure to contact the schools. We will work with you so that your child(ren)'s education is disrupted as little as possible.

     

    More information regarding Homelessness is listed in the left sidebar.