Transporting Homeless Students to Increase Stability: A Case Study of Two Texas Districts

Abstract

Passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 included major revisions to the federal legislation that addresses the education of children and youth experiencing homelessness, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements Act (McKinney-Vento). The major changes included provisions allowing homeless children and youth to attend their school of origin for the duration of their homelessness and requiring school districts to provide transportation, if requested. This article examines how two Texas school districts, Houston and Victoria Independent School Districts, have responded to the challenges of providing transportation to ensure that students in homeless situations can attend their school of origin. I'd be crying most every night and I couldn't sleep. I'd be scared. And my sister would be crying and say, You might as well get used to this and make your bed because we're never gonna get a house and we're always gonna live in the car. This was hard for me, because I'm only eleven. (Jose, 11, describing what it was like for him and his teenage sister, Juanita, 14, when they lived in their car with their mother, who worked nights at a hospital, but did not earn enough money to secure housing for herself and her two children; Texas Homeless Education Office, 1996) My kids and me were livin' in my car and when the principal found out we were homeless, she wanted to take my kids and have 'em put somewhere. But that wasn't gonna happen. We weren't gonna be separated no matter what. We'd stay in our car forever but we weren't gonna be separated. (Maria, mother of Jose, and Juanita, who were living in their car; Texas Homeless Education Office, 1996) Passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (hereinafter NCLB2001) included major revisions to the federal legislation that addresses the education of children and youth experiencing homelessness, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements Act (McKinney-Vento). In reauthorizing McKinney-Vento, Congress addressed one of the primary concerns of advocates for the education of children and youth experiencing homelessness: giving homeless students the option of remaining in their school of origin for as long as feasible. Although the 1990 amendments to the McKinney Act (before it was renamed the McKinney-Vento Act) allowed students experiencing homelessness the option of remaining in their school of origin for the year in which they became homeless, lack of transportation severely hindered the ability of homeless students to exercise this legal option. Legislators addressed the advocates' concerns in the NCLB2001 reauthorization of McKinney-Vento through two revisions. The first extended the option for homeless students to remain in their school of origin from the year in which they became homeless to the entire duration of their homelessness. The second required school districts to provide students experiencing homelessness with transportation to and from their school of origin, at a parent's or guardian's request. Despite these new provisions, Congress did not provide additional resources for districts to offset any additional costs of fulfilling these new requirements, thereby leaving districts with the challenge of responding to these new requirements as best as possible with the resources already on hand. This article examines the legislative context of the new McKinney-Vento provisions; the characteristics of homelessness and resultant educational barriers that these provisions are attempting to address; and how two Texas districts have addressed these provisions and attempted to facilitate the transportation of homeless students to their schools of origin. The Houston Independent School District (HISD) and Victoria Independent School District (VISD) case studies explore issues relevant to the education of students experiencing homelessness, the logistical issues facing school districts, and the manner in which school districts transform abstract, statutory language into actual services affecting the lives of students, parents, teachers, and administrators. …