Currituck County Schools

Homelessness

It is important that children have an opportunity to learn, grow and develop their strengths, no matter their circumstances.

Currituck County Schools endeavors to ensure that every student in our system has the benefit of an education.  This includes those students who, by virtue of their parents’ economic status, do not reside in a stable housing situation.  Research indicates that over 1.5 million children in the United States are homeless or living in situations that cause them to have to relocate regularly.  Students who are precariously housed have a greater chance of falling behind in their school work and face a number of barriers to learning. Schools can give students stability, security, and a safe place to grow.

It is especially important that children who are experiencing homelessness with their families feel like the school is supporting them. The schools and the parents both have a part in making that support successful.

For more information, please contact Athena Chasteen, McKinney Vento Homeless Liaison, achasteen@currituck.k12.nc.us or call 252.435.2566 ext. 9014.

Currituck County Schools has served the following number of homeless students over the past three academic years:

2023-2024 - 75 Children Served

2022-2023 - 71 Children Served   

2021-2022 - 79 Children Served

McKinney-Vento

Subtitle VII-B of The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act authorizes the Federal Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) Program and is the primary piece of federal legislation dealing with the education of children and youth experiencing homelessness. It was originally passed in 1987 and was reauthorized as Title X, Part C, of the No Child Left Behind Act in January 2002. This federal law includes the Education of Homeless Children and Youth Program that entitles children who are homeless to a free, appropriate public education and requires schools to remove barriers to their enrollment, attendance, and success in school. To qualify for these rights, children and youth must be considered homeless according to the McKinney-Vento definition of homeless and protects all students who do not have a fixed, regular and adequate residence, such as students living in the following situations:

• doubled-up housing with other families or friends due to hardship;
• runaway/homeless youth shelters (even if parents invite the youth home);
• hotels or motels;
• shelters, including domestic violence shelters;
• transitional housing shelters;
• cars, abandoned buildings parks, the streets or other public spaces;
• campgrounds or inadequate trailer homes
• awaiting foster care placement; and/or
• abandoned in a hospital.

Children and youth experiencing homelessness have the right to

• Receive a free, appropriate public education.
• Enroll in school immediately, even if lacking documents normally required for enrollment.
• Enroll in school and attend classes while the school gathers needed documents.
• Enroll in the local attendance area school or continue attending their school of origin (the school they attended when permanently housed or the school in which they were last enrolled), if that is the parent's, guardian's, or unaccompanied youth's preference is feasible. If the school district believes the school selected is not in the student's best interest, then the district must provide the parent, guardian, or unaccompanied youth with a written explanation of its position and inform him/her of the right to appeal its decision.
• Receive transportation to and from the school of origin, if requested by the parent, guardian, or unaccompanied youth.
• Receive educational services comparable to those provided to other students, according to the student's need.

For more information on homelessness visit the following websites:

     The National Center for Homeless Education

     The North Carolina Homeless Education Program

North Carolina McKinney-Vento state Coordinator: Lisa Phillips contact Information is  lisa.phillips@dpi.nc.gov