Homeless Education

Homeless Family Services/McKinney-Vento Act

The McKinney-Vento Act was first signed into law in 1987 by President Reagan. McKinney-Vento was most recently reauthorized through the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) signed into law by President Obama in 2015. The McKinney-Vento Act supports homeless students' right to remain at their school of origin. The Act recognizes that school can be a source of stability for students whose lives may be chaotic or transient.

Homeless students are children and youth who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. Unaccompanied youth include a youth who is not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian. Homeless children and youth include those students who:

share the house of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason;
live in motels, hotels, transient trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations;
live in emergency or transitional shelters;
live in a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as regular sleeping accommodations for human beings;
live in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; or
live in a migratory situation that qualifies as homeless because the child lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.

Children and youth experiencing homelessness have the right to:

receive a free, appropriate public education;
enroll in school immediately, even if lacking documents normally required for enrollment;
enroll in school and attend classes while the school gathers needed documents;
enroll in the local attendance area school or continue attending their school of origin (the school they attended when permanently housed or the school in which they were last enrolled), if the parent's, guardian's, or unaccompanied youth's preference is feasible. If the school district believes the school selected is not in the student's best interest, then the district must provide the parent, guardian, or unaccompanied youth with a written explanation of its position and inform him/her of the right to appeal its decision;
receive transportation to and from the school of origin, if requested by the parent, guardian, or unaccompanied youth;

receive transportation to and from the school of origin, if requested by the parent, guardian, or unaccompanied youth;
receive educational services comparable to those provided to other students, according to the student's needs.

Dispute Resolution Process for Homeless Students

Stanly County Schools is committed to ensuring that children and youth experiencing homelessness have equal access to educational opportunities. If a disagreement arises regarding a student's eligibility, school selection, or enrollment under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, the district will follow the dispute resolution procedures outlined in Stanly County Schools Board Policy 4125: Homeless Students. For more information about the dispute resolution process, please review Board Policy 4125 – Homeless Students or contact the Stanly County Schools McKinney-Vento Homeless Liaison.

Total number of homeless children and youth enrolled in SCS:

2025-2026 = 153

2024-2025 = 212

2023-2024 = 212

2022-2023 = 165

2021-2022 = 174

2020-2021 = 147

Additional resources can be found at:

NCHEP - North Carolina Homeless Education Program

School-House Connection Interactive Map for State-Level Data

Please contact Ms. Judith Taylor, Executive Director of Student Services, at 704-961-3800 or [email protected] for more information on services for homeless students in Stanly County Schools. State Coordinator for Homeless Education: Lisa Phillips ([email protected]).