» SPECIAL REPORT
plemented, there was a saying: ‘One student, one school, one year.’ But as it evolved, advo- cates for homeless students realized one year wasn’t enough, especially for a junior who needed to finish his or her senior year at the school of origin or, for example, a well-estab- lished elementary student whose best interest is to stay in their current school for the next academic year,” Gervais explained. She noted parents and children are often silenced by embarrassment over losing their home, but bus drivers can provide an early warning indicator. “If a driver notices the kid used to come out of the house every morning and is now getting out of the car, he or she should be telling the transportation director,” Gervais advised. Aric Taylor, assistant director of trans-
portation at Conroe Independent School District near Houston, said subtle signs could also be deceiving. “You have a driver who comes in and says,
‘I’m not going to transport this kid because the mom drives up in a nice car and the kid gets out, so is that kid really homeless?’ You can be diligent but you want to be there for those kids and not be jaded,” he cautioned. “I remind people this isn’t new. We’ve been doing it a long time with special needs kids. When people recognize this is about the best educational environmental for the student and it needs to happen, that helps a lot.” Gervais noted that districts have a variety
BALANCING THE ACT WRITTEN BY ERIC WOOLSON I
t’s not a question of “if ” but “when” school districts will be confronted with the need to comply with the McKin- ney-Vento Education Assistance Act,
so transportation directors should take a proactive approach in preparing to transport homeless students, several experts recommend. “Some people may say, ‘We don’t have any
homeless kids in our district.’ Well, it’s only a matter of time,” said Pauline Gervais, a consultant with the Education Compliance Group and retired executive director of trans-
portation with the Denver Public Schools. “Whether transportation is district owned or provided by a contractor, you should be proactive. You should get out and meet with neighboring districts and/or contractors about transporting homeless students so you’re prepared when it does occur.” Unemployment rates have increased home- lessness and stretched its duration for some students. Major catastrophes like superstorm Sandy have affected all economic classes. “When (McKinney-Vento) was first im-
38 School Transportation News February 2013
SCHOOL DISTRICTS HAVE LITTLE ROOM FOR ERROR WHEN ADHERING TO ‘EVOLVING’ FEDERAL LAW ON HOMELESS EDUCATION AND TRANSPORTATION
of options to comply with McKinney-Vento. Some districts provide gas vouchers to pay, and others provide tokens for mass transit. If using a taxi service, she recommended do- ing “homework” on taxi driver background checks and requesting the same driver in an effort to provide stability. “You don’t just randomly do it because it’s the easy way to go,” she emphasized. “If it’s determined that transportation is needed, we have an obligation to figure it out as quickly as possible.” Taylor said Houston Independent School
District, where he was routing and schedul- ing manager for 11 years, has many magnet schools and performs numerous cross-district transfers. Tat makes it simpler to transport homeless students because “it creates a lot of open, easy routes to move kids around.” At 350 square miles, the Conroe district is
roughly the same size, but its routes involve few transfers, and buses are often at capacity. “In Houston, it’s a time issue. In Conroe,
it’s a space issue,” he explained. “You have to be sensitive about interrupting other trans- portation because, if you turn a 75-min- ute ride into a 90-minute ride for other
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