BRIGHT FUTURES BEGIN HERE!

Do you live in any of the following situations?

In a shelter

In a motel or campground due to lack of an alternative adequate accommodation

In a car, park, abandoned building, bus, or train station

Doubled up with people due to loss of housing or economic hardship

If so, you may qualify for certain rights and protections under the federal McKinney-Vento Act.

McKinney-Vento At A Glance

According to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act:

"The Education of Homeless Children and Youth program is to ensure that all homeless children and youth have equal access to the same free, appropriate public education, including preschool education, provided to other children and youth."

Who is a Homeless Student?

McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (Tital IX, Part A of ESSA) - states that:

The term "homeless children and youth" - 

    (A) means individuals who lack a 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 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;

        (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 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).

What Rights Do Homeless Students Have?

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 school; or continue attending the school of origin (the school they attended when permanently housed or the school in which they were last enrolled), if that is your preference. 

If the school district believes that the school you select is not in the best interest of your children, then the district must provide you with a written explanation of its position and inform you of your right to appeal its decision. 

receive transportation to and from the school of origin, if you request this. 

receive educational services comparable to those provided to other students, according to your children’s needs.

Who Should I Contact If I Believe A Student Is Homeless?

Holland Public School District Homeless Liaison:
Mehan Marthen
(O) : 616.494.2016
 

Or contact:

State Coordinator:
Pamela K. Kies-Lowe
Homeless Education Consultant/State Coordinator
Michigan Department of Education
Office of Field Services, Special Populations Unit
608 W. Allegan St., P.O. Box 30008
Lansing, MI 48909
Ph:  517-373-6066
Fax:  517-335-2886  
Email: kies-lowep@michigan.gov
For more information, please see the Michigan Department of Education website.

For more information on enrolling in Holland Public Schools, please contact the Administration building at 616-494-2000

Families who would like to send their child(ren) to a different elementary school other than their neighborhood school may fill out an internal transfer request. Requests may not be made outside of this open enrollment internal transfer window. 

Requests will be honored based on space and availability in the school requested. Parents who transfer their students out of their neighborhood school are responsible for bringing their children to and from school.

Once approved, internal transfer students will be grandfathered into the requested school.

Internal Transfer Rules (English) | Internal transfer Rules (Spanish)
Internal Transfer Request (English) | Internal Transfer Request (Spanish)
 

For more information on enrolling in Holland Public Schools, please contact the Administration building at 616-494-2000