Watertown Public Schools

30 Common Street, Watertown MA 02472

Civil Rights

Watertown Public Schools > Human Resources

 

Homeless Students: Enrollment Rights & Services

To the extent practical and as required by law, the district will work with homeless
students and their families to provide stability in school attendance and other services.
Special attention will be given to ensuring the enrollment and attendance of homeless
students not currently attending school. Homeless students will be provided district
services for which they are eligible, including Head Start and comparable pre-school
programs, Title I, similar state programs, special education, bilingual education,
vocational and technical education programs, gifted and talented programs and school
nutrition programs.


Homeless students are defined as lacking a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime
residence, including:


1. Sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing or economic hardship;
2. Living in motels, hotels, trailer parks or camping grounds due to the lack of
alternative adequate accommodations;
3. Living in emergency or transitional shelters;
4. Being abandoned in hospitals;
5. Awaiting foster care placement;
6. Living in public or private places not designed for or ordinarily used as regular
sleeping accommodations for human beings;
8. Living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing,
transportation stations or similar settings;
9. Migratory children living in conditions described in the previous examples.

The Superintendent shall designate an appropriate staff person to be the dis trict’s liaison
for homeless students and their families.

To the extent feasible, homeless students will continue to be enrolled in their school of
origin while they remain homeless or until the end of the academic year in which they
obtain permanent hous ing. Instead of remaining in the school of origin, parents or
guardians of homeless students may request enrollment in the school in the attendance
area in which the student is actually living, or other schools. Attendance rights by living
in attendance areas, other student assignment policies, or intra and inter-district choice
options are available to homeless families on the same terms as families resident in the
district.


If there is an enrollment dispute, the student shall be immediately enrolled in the school
in which enrollment is sought, pending resolution of the dispute. The parent or guardian
shall be informed of the District’s decision and their appeal rights in writing. The
district’s liaison will carry out dispute resolution as provided by state rule.
Unaccompanied youth will also be enrolled pending resolution of the dispute.
Once the enrollment decision is made, the school shall immediately enroll the student,
pursuant to district policies. If the student does not have immediate access to immunization records, the student shall be admitted under a personal exception. Students and families should be encouraged to obtain current immunization records or immunizations as soon as possible, and the district liaison is directed to assist.


Records from the student’s previous school shall be requested from the previous school
pursuant to district policies. Emergency contact information is required at the time of
enrollment consistent with district policies, including compliance with the state’s address
confidentiality program when necessary.


Homeless students are entitled to transportation to their school of origin or the school
where they are to be enrolled. If the school of origin is in a different district, or a
homeless student is living in another district but will attend his or her school of origin in
this district, the districts will coordinate the transportation services necessary for the
student, or will divide the costs equally.


The district’s liaison for homeless students and their families shall coordinate with local
social service agencies that provide services to homeless children and youths and their
families; other school districts on issues of transportation and records transfers; and state
and local housing agencies responsible for comprehensive housing affordability
strategies. This coordination includes providing public notice of the educational rights of
homeless students in schools, family shelters and soup kitchens. The district’s
liaison will also review and recommend amendments to district policies that may act as
barriers to the enrollment of homeless students.

 

Updated February 2008