Homeless Assistance

The Joel E. Barber School District does our best to serve all families in a complete capacity. Listed below are the qualifiers that our district uses to mark homeless families according to the federal government’s McKinney-Vento guidelines.

42 U.S.C. § 11434a(2)

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 a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; or 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 or 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).

Parents Right to an Appeal

While it is the schools responsibility to determine the best school placement for a homeless student, the Laclede County C-5 School District will always prioritize school stability and parent/guardian wishes whenever possible.