Homeless is Not School-less
The board shall make reasonable efforts to identify homeless children and youth of school age within the district, encourage their enrollment and eliminate existing barriers to their receiving education which may exist in district policies or practices. A homeless child or youth as defined by law as a child or youth from the age of 3 years through 21 years who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence and includes the following:
- a child or youth who is sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; is living in a motel, hotel, trailer park, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; is living in an emergency or transitional shelter; is abandoned in a hospital; or is awaiting foster care placement;
- a child or youth who has 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;
- a child or youth who is living in a car, park, public space, abandoned building, substandard housing, bus or train station, or similar setting; or
- a migratory child or youth who qualifies as homeless because the child or youth is living in circumstances described above.
The district shall make available to the homeless child or youth all services and assistance including, but not limited to, compensatory education, special education, English as a second language, vocational courses or programs, programs for gifted and talented, health services, and food and nutrition programs, on the same basis as those services and assistance provided to resident pupils.
If you need further assistance/information, please contact the building principal, counselor, or Adam Busch, Director of Student Services, P.O. Box 10, Johnston, Iowa 50131-0010, phone 515-278-0470.
