Homeless Students and School

This article is a general description of a school's duties and the student's rights when a student is homeless.

This is a general description of a school's duties and the student's rights when a student is homeless. Each situation is different. A student and their guardian will probably need legal help if the student’s problem enrolling or transferring cannot be resolved.

Who is considered Homeless?

School age children who are homeless (or become homeless) have legal rights under a federal law called "The McKinney-Vento Act." The word homeless does not mean only someone who literally lives on the street. A homeless student includes:

an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence;
an individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is:
- a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations,
- an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or
- a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings;
an individual who lives in substandard housing; and
an individual who may imminently lose housing and has no subsequent housing identified.

A homeless student includes any child who is living in a motel, in a shelter, with family members or friends, in a car, in a park, or in any other public place because her family has lost their housing or have no housing.

Read the law: 42 U.S.C. § 11302; Code of Md. Regulations 13A.05.09.02

What must schools do?

The Maryland State Department of Education and local school boards are required to help homeless students.

Each local school system must have "policies to eliminate barriers to enrollment, retention and success in school of homeless children." Each school system must have a plan to address:

transportation issues;
delay in enrollment due to residency rules;
lack of documents such as birth certificates, school records, immunization records, or other documentation; and
guardianship issues.

Each school system also must have a "homeless education coordinator" who is responsible for helping children who are covered by these rules.

Transfers in grade 11 or 12 - For homeless youth or students in foster care who transfer while in grade 11 or 12 between local school systems, the local board of education must waive all local high school graduation requirements, including required coursework. Local high school graduation requirements are those requirements established by the local board that are in addition to State Board of Education's high school graduation requirements. However, the local board of education may not waive the requirements if the local board makes a finding that the student is reasonably able to complete the local high school graduation requirements in time to graduate from high school while the student remains eligible for foster care benefits.

Read the law: Md. Code, Education § 7-205

Which school will a child attend?

School systems must consider "the best interest of the child" when they enroll homeless children in a school. Generally, the school system must allow the child to continue attending or enroll in the parent's choice of:

the school of origin for the remainder of the academic year or,
if the student becomes homeless between academic years, the school of origin for the following academic year; or
the school in which non-homeless students (who live in the same area) are eligible to attend. (This refers to the school "attendance" area in which the homeless student is currently living.)

A school cannot delay enrollment because the student is unable to produce school, medical, or residency records. And the school must help obtain the student’s records from a previous school.

Read the law: Code of Md. Regulations 13A.05.09.04

Transportation to school

The school also must provide the student with transportation from wherever she is living to the school.

Read the law: Code of Md. Regulations 13A.05.09.06

Filing a grievance

Each school system must have a grievance procedure to resolve problems within five days. A parent can appeal to the superintendent of the school system, to the local school board, and to the State School Board. Until the grievance is resolved the student must be allowed to attend either:

the school she was in before or,
the school nearest the place she lives.

Read the law on the dispute resolution procedure: Code of Md. Regulations 13A.05.09.07

Contact information for each county’s Homeless Education Coordinator is available on the State Department of Education's website.