• The Right to Attend School

    The McKinney-Vinto Homeless Assistance Act, children in homeless situations have:

    • The right to immediate enrollment in school even if they lack the required paperwork.
    • The right to attend school at their school of origin or at the school in the attendance area where the family or youth is currently residing.
    • The right to receive transportation to the school of origin if requested by the parent.
    • The right to services comparable to those received by housed schoolmates, including transportation and supplemental education services.
    • The right to attend school along with children not experiencing homelessness.

    Who is considered homeless?

    Children and youths who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. This includes:

    • Children and youths who are sharing the housing of others due to a loss of housing, an economic hardship or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks or campgrounds due to a lack of alternate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster-care placement.
    • Children and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, regular sleeping accommodations for human beings.
    • Children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public places, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings.
    • Migratory children who qualify as homeless for the purposes of this definition because the children are living in circumstances as described above.

    For more information, or to enroll a child without a fixed, regular, or adequate nighttime residence in Saint Louis Public Schools, contact the Students in Transition Office at (314) 345-5750.