Mansfield Independent School District
Mansfield Independent School DistrictFamilies in Transition/Mckinney-Vento
The McKinney-Vento Assistance Act addresses the problems that homeless children and youth have with enrolling, attending, and succeeding in school.
This federal 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).
Online resources provided by the Texas Education for Homeless Children and Youth (TEHCY) have a great deal of information about implementing provisions of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements Act and Texas state law.
For additional support, please contact:
Dr. Liz Russo, District Liaison
Director of Student Services and Campus Support
817-299-6368
lizrusso@misdmail.org