Kentucky Administrative Regulations › Title 704 - EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT CABINET - BOARD OF EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION - OFFICE OF LEARNING PROGRAMS DEVELOPMENT › Chapter 7 - Office of Learning Support Services › Section 704 KAR 7:090 - Homeless Children and Youth Education Program and ensuring educational stability of children in foster care

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 1, July 1, 2024
RELATES TO:
				KRS
				156.029,
				156.035,
				156.160,
				214.185(3),
				(4),
				20 U.S.C
				1232g,
				6311(g)(1)(E),
				6312(c)(5)(B),
				42 U.S.C.
				11431 et seq.
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: In accordance with the
				McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (McKinney-Vento Act), as amended under
				the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA), the Kentucky Department of
				Education (department), when applying to the U.S. Department of Education for
				participation in programs for homeless children and unaccompanied youth under
				the McKinney-Vento Act, shall submit an approvable plan and satisfactory
				assurances that all requirements of the law established in
				42
				U.S.C. Section 11432 shall be met. This
				administrative regulation aligns with the Kentucky Board of Education's duties,
				pursuant to
				KRS
				156.029 and
				156.035,
				to develop administrative regulations governing activities within the
				department and implement Congressional action appropriating funds to the state
				in accordance with state and federal law and Kentucky's consolidated State plan
				under ESSA. Specifically, this administrative regulation establishes criteria
				regarding residency policies and provides for a free, appropriate public
				education for homeless children and unaccompanied youth; informal procedures
				for resolving disputes regarding the educational placement of homeless children
				and unaccompanied youth; grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) for the
				enrollment, retention, and educational success of homeless children and
				unaccompanied youth; and, an annual count of homeless children and
				unaccompanied youth. Additionally, this administrative regulation requires LEAs
				to have procedures for awarding credit, including partial credit, for
				coursework satisfactorily completed by homeless children and unaccompanied
				youth in another school as well as for conferring high school diplomas to
				homeless children and unaccompanied youth in accordance with
				KRS
				156.160(1)(p). Consistent
				with 20 U.S.C
				6311(g)(1)(E) and
				20 U.S.C.
				6312(c)(5)(B), this
				administrative regulation also promotes the educational stability of children
				in foster care through the implementation of the foster care liaison within
				each LEA.
Section 1. Definitions.
(1) "Foster care" shall have the same meaning
			 as defined in
			 KRS
			 620.020(5).
(2) "Free, appropriate public education"
			 means the educational programs and services provided to the children of a
			 resident of a state consistent with state school attendance laws. These
			 educational programs and services, for which the child meets the eligibility
			 criteria, may include:
(a) Magnet
			 schools;
(b) Charter
			 schools;
(c) Compensatory education
			 programs for the disadvantaged;
(d)
			 Educational programs for the handicapped and students with limited English
			 proficiency;
(e) Programs in
			 vocational education;
(f) Programs
			 for the gifted and talented;
(g)
			 School meals programs;
(h) Extended
			 school programs;
(i) Preschool
			 programs; and
(j) Programs developed
			 by the family resource and youth services centers.
(3) "Homeless child," "homeless children,"
			 and "homeless student" mean a child or children who are between the ages of
			 birth and twenty-one (21) years, inclusive, and who lack a fixed, regular, and
			 adequate nighttime residence. This definition includes children and youth who:
(a) Are sharing the housing of other persons
			 due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason;
(b) Are living in motels, hotels, trailer
			 parks, or camping grounds due to lack of alternative adequate
			 accommodations;
(c) Are living in
			 emergency or transitional shelters;
(d) Are abandoned in hospitals;
(e) 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;
(f) Are living in cars, parks, public spaces,
			 abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar
			 settings; or
(g) Are migratory
			 children who qualify as homeless because they are living in circumstances
			 described in this subsection.
(4) "Local educational agency" or "LEA" shall
			 have the same meaning as defined in
			 20
			 U.S.C. 7801(30).
(5) "School of origin" means the school that
			 the homeless child or youth or foster child attended when permanently housed or
			 the school in which the homeless child or youth or foster child was last
			 enrolled. This shall include preschool and designated receiving schools at the
			 grade level for all feeder schools when a student completes the final grade
			 level served by the school of origin.
(6) "Student attendance day" shall have the
			 same meaning as defined in
			 KRS
			 158.070(1)(e).
(7) "Unaccompanied youth" means a youth that
			 meets the definitions of unaccompanied youth and homeless included in the
			 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.