Aligns the education law more closely with the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act as to education of homeless children

Section 2 would amend subdivision 2 of section 3209 of the Education Law to clarify that the designator has the right to designate the school of origin or the school serving the attendance zone in which the temporary housing arrangement is located - in addition to the school district of current location, school district of origin, or school district participating in a regional placement plan - as the school which the homeless child shall attend upon instruction. Section 2 would also amend paragraph b of subdivision 2 to clarify that where a homeless child is temporarily housed in the school district of origin, such child may choose to remain in the school of origin for the duration of homelessness, except where continuing the child's education in the school of origin is determined not to be in the child's best interest. Section 2 would also amend paragraph b to provide that, where a homeless student becomes permanently housed during a school year, such child may remain in the school of origin until the end of the school year and for one additional year if that year constitutes the child's terminal year in the building. Paragraph c of subdivision 2 would also be amended to clarify that students who have designated the school district of current location as the district of attendance and have relocated to another temporary housing arrangement outside of such district would be entitled to maintain the prior designation to enable them to remain in the school of origin for the duration of homelessness, except where it is not in the child's best interest, and when the child becomes permanently housed during a school year, for the duration of that school year and one additional year.

Section 2 would also amend paragraph b of subdivision 2 of section 3209 to provide that, where the public school or district a homeless student was attending when he or she became homeless is located outside New York State, such student shall, to the extent required by McKinney-Vento, have the right to designate a public school located in a contiguous state as his or her school of origin. In addition, the school district of current location would be required arrange for the child's transportation to the school of origin in accordance with the provisions of McKinney-Vento.

Section 2 would also amend paragraph e of subdivision 2 of section 3209 to clarify that a school district must immediately admit a homeless child, treat such child as a resident for all purposes and, where applicable, make a written request for the student's records when a designator selects a school or school district as the child's school or school district of attendance or the student is identified as a homeless child by the district's local educational agency liaison, whether or not the school district has received a completed designation form. Thus, if a child is identified as a homeless child through child find activities, or the parent or other designator selects the school or district of attendance, the right to attend school attaches immediately, not when a completed designation form is received. The language also clarifies that, where applicable, the school district must assist the homeless child or their parents in completing the designation form.

Section 2 would also amend paragraph g of subdivision 2 of section 3209 to clarify that, if a charter school is a homeless student's school of origin, the designated district would be deemed the school district of residence for purposes of fiscal and programmatic responsibility for such child. Further, paragraph g is amended to provide that if a homeless child becomes permanently housed by being placed in certain residential settings, the school district of origin would be deemed the school district of residence for purposes of fiscal and programmatic responsibility for such child.

Finally, two new paragraphs h and i would be added to §3209(2) to clarify the obligations of each designated school district of attendance under McKinney-Vento, including ensuring equal access to the same public prekindergarten, secondary education, support services and before- and after-school care programs as are provided to other children residing in the school district. New paragraph i would provide that each designated school district of attendance or charter school must ensure that homeless students, at a minimum, be provided services comparable to those offered to other students in the public school they attend, including transportation, summer school, educational services under Title I or similar state or local programs, educational programs for limited English proficient students and students with disabilities, vocational and technical education programs, gifted and talented programs and school nutrition programs.

Section 3 would amend paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 3209 to clarify, in light of the change in the definitions of the "school district of origin" and "school district of current location" made in section one of this act, that the school district providing instruction to a homeless student shall be eligible for reimbursement from the State Education Department for the direct cost of educational services only when the homeless student's school district of origin is different from the school district of current location. Where the district of origin and the district of current location of a homeless child are the same, such district would be entitled to claim State aid for such homeless child as a resident student, as under current law. Section 4 would add a new paragraph f to subdivision 4 of section 3209 to provide that homeless students are entitled to transportation to certain summer educational programs in their designated school district where their temporary housing arrangement is located outside of the designated school district.

Section 5 is the effective date.

Statement in support of the bill

In 1994, Education Law §3209 was amended by Chapter 569 of the Laws of 1994 to provide for the education of homeless children in accordance with the predecessor to the current McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act. In 2003, Education Law §3209 was amended by Chapter 10 I of the Laws of 2003 to conform to changes in McKinney-Vento made by the No Child Left Behind Act. Among those amendments was the addition of a new subdivision 2-a to §3209 that requires school districts, as local educational agencies, to comply with all the applicable requirements of paragraphs 3 through 7 of subsection (g) of section 722 of subtitle B of Title VII of McKinney Vento, which set forth the responsibilities of local educational agencies to homeless children and youth under McKinney-Vento. Clearly, Education Law §3209 is intended to require compliance with the requirements of McKinneyVento, and that is how it has been interpreted by the State Education Department.

However, the language used in the provisions of Education Law §3209 that were not amended by Chapter 101 of the Laws of 2003 differs in some respects from the language of McKinney-Vento, which creates the risk that it may be misinterpreted as conferring rights upon homeless children and youth that are less than those conferred by McKinney- Vento. This bill would more closely align the language of Education Law §3209 with McKinney-Vento in order to clarify the rights of homeless children and youth and their parents.

For example, McKinney-Vento confers upon the parents of homeless children and unaccompanied youth or other designator the right to designate a "school of origin" as the school he or she will attend, while Education Law §3209 provides for the designation of the school district the child will attend, and then provides for a right to remain in the school building where previously enrolled. This bill would more closely align Education Law §3209 with the language of McKinney-Vento by adding a definition of "school of origin" identical to that in McKinney-Vento and providing that the parent of the homeless child or other designator designates both the school of origin and the school district which the student will attend. By making this change in the designation, this bill would clarify the rights of affected homeless children to return to the school of origin and help expedite the homeless student's return to such school.

Similarly, this bill would incorporate into Education Law §3209 the language of McKinney-Vento that provides that a homeless child has a right to remain in the school of origin for the duration of homelessness, unless the school district determines that continuing the child in such school is not in the best interest of the child. For example, if the homeless child has completed the terminal year in the school of origin, returning that child to such school would not be in the child's best interest. Education Law §3209, in order to minimize disruption of the education of homeless children, currently allows the designation of a homeless child to continue so the homeless child remains in the school of origin until the end of the school year and for one additional year if that year is the terminal year in that building. This bill, while conforming to McKinney-Vento, would preserve this policy of preventing disruption of the education of homeless children by specifying that the homeless child, once he or she becomes permanently housed, may remain in the school of origin until the end of the school year or for one additional year, if it is the terminal year in the school.

With respect to homeless children who became homeless while attending school in another state, this bill would retain the existing requirement of Education Law §3209 that the homeless child be admitted to the schools of the school district of current location, but would clarify that such student has the right to designate a public school in a contiguous state as the school of origin and the school district of current location is responsible for arranging with the out-of-state school district of origin for the transportation of such student in accordance with McKinney-Vento. McKinney-Vento itself makes no distinction between the rights of the homeless student based upon which state the school of origin is located, so this change conforms to what McKinney-Vento would require.

The provisions of this bill that address the responsibilities of school districts and charter schools when a child becomes homeless while attending a charter school are needed to protect the rights of such homeless children while clarifying which school district has fiscal and programmatic responsibility for the charter school student. Under Article 56 of the Education Law, the child's school district of residence is responsible for making payments of charter school tuition for a child attending a charter school and to provide various services to the charter school student, such as transportation, committee on special education services and textbook loans. When a child attending a charter school becomes homeless, the identity of the school district of residence becomes an issue, which this bill would resolve by deeming the school district designated by the parent of the homeless child or other designator to be the child's school district of residence for purposes of Article 56.

The provisions of this bill that address the responsibilities of school districts when a homeless child becomes permanently housed by being placed in a residential placement, such as a foster home, an intermediate care facility, hospital, correctional facility, child care institution, state-operated or state-supported school for the deaf or blind or approved private school for the education of students with disabilities are similarly needed to clarify which school district retains fiscal and programmatic responsibility, such as committee on special education responsibility under the applicable laws. This bill would deem the school district of origin of the homeless child to be the child's school district of residence for all such purposes.

Proposed new paragraph h of subdivision 2 of section 3209 would add into state law language from McKinney-Vento regarding the rights of homeless children to equal access to prekindergarten programs, services offered to students who have separated from the public schools, and before-school and after-school care programs, including extracurricular activities. Section 722(g)(1)(F) of McKinney-Vento requires that the State Plan for the education of homeless children and youth provide for equal access in such instances.

Proposed new paragraph i of subdivision 2 of section 3209 would require that the school district of attendance, or the charter school in the case of a homeless child attending a charter school, provide services comparable to those offered other students, as required by section 722(g)(4) of McKinney-Vento. Such comparable services must include transportation, educational services (which would include summer school), vocational and technical education, gifted and talented programs and school nutrition programs.

Finally, proposed new paragraph f of subdivision 4 of section 3209 would require that transportation be provided to a summer school program where such program is needed for the homeless child to advance to the next grade or to complete a high school diploma with his or her peers. This is consistent with the requirements of McKinney-Vento relating to assuring that homeless children are afforded equal access to education and comparable educational programs to other students.

Collectively, the provisions of this bill will clarify the rights of homeless children and youth and more closely align the language of state law with McKinney-Vento. By so doing, this bill should help assure that homeless children and youth receive the educational services to which they are entitled in a timely manner, so the disruption of their education resulting from their homelessness is minimized.

Budgetary implications of the bill

Assuming that school districts are in full compliance with the requirements of McKinney Vento, there should be no significant additional costs to the State as a result of this bill. To the extent school districts are complying with the requirements of McKinney-Vento and state law as they have been interpreted by the State Education Department, there should not be significant additional costs to school districts, with one possible exception. The proposed requirement for transportation to summer school programs is a new requirement that would result in additional transportation costs to county social services or school districts of origin. There is no State aid currently provided for summer school transportation, so there should be no resulting cost to the State. The costs of providing summer school transportation to courses needed for a homeless child to advance to the next grade or complete a high school diploma are not known.

Prior legislative history

This is a new bill.

Effective date

The bill would take effect on September first in the year next succeeding the year in which it shall have become a law.