The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act (Act) provides important protections and rights for homeless children and unaccompanied homeless youth. Pursuant to the Act, students experiencing homelessness must be immediately enrolled in the school of origin or the school in the attendance zone where the student currently resides. Disagreements over eligibility, school selection, or enrollment may be disputed. If a dispute arises the child or youth must be immediately enrolled in the school of origin or school located in the child’s attendance zone, as requested by the parent, guardian, or unaccompanied youth, pending final resolution of the dispute, including all available appeals.

McKinney-Vento (MV) disputes should be resolved locally, whenever possible and must go through the local McKinney-Vento Dispute Resolution process. To learn more about filing a dispute within a district, please consult with the District McKinney-Vento Homeless Liaison. The Homeless Liaison is available to assist homeless students and families with filing an appeal and navigating the dispute resolution process. If a resolution is not reached locally, then MV disputes may be submitted to TEA.

MV disputes should be expedited and resolved promptly to meet federal requirements. Districts have a responsibility to ensure that local timelines in the district’s complaint policies are expedited, whenever possible, to meet the U.S. Department of Education and the Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) expectation of prompt dispute resolution.