School District Superintendent The Orange County Grand Jury Christopher Downing, Ed.D.*

Many children experiencing homelessness are not identified as such, and therefore do not receive the support and benefits authorized by the McKinney-Vento Act. The District partially disagrees with the finding. The District cannot verify that "many" children experiencing homelessness in Orange County are not identified as such and therefore do not receive McKinney-Vento services. As it relates to children experiencing homelessness in our District, we provide training to all 1001 S. East Street staff, and have posters up at each school in order to "advertise" our Success for All program that supports students and families living in homelessness. We also Anaheim, CA 92805 work with many community organizations so that they know what supports are Phone 714-517-7500 available. Fax 714-517-8538 www.aesd.org The District partially agrees with the finding. The District recognizes that not all children eligible for McKinney-Vento services are identified and receive such services. The District has processes and procedures to identify and serve McKinney-Vento students but recognizes that the District can always improve our process to identify and serve more McKinney-Vento students.

The lack of mandatory McKinney-Vento Act training of school site office staff, counselors, and teachers contributes to a failure to identify children experiencing homelessness. The District partially disagrees with the finding. Our District has put in place mandatory training for all school staff prior to the beginning of each school year using the training materials provided by OCDE. The District partially agrees with the finding. Increased access to and focus on training of school staff will likely increase the identification of children experiencing homelessness.

There is disparity in the application of McKinney-Vento regulations across Orange County public school districts which results in unequal access to educational benefits for children experiencing homelessness. The District partially disagrees with the finding. The District does not have firsthand information regarding whether there is a disparity across all districts in Orange County leading to unequal access to educational benefits. Therefore, the District cannot wholly agree or disagree with this finding. As it relates to the City of Anaheim, we come together monthly as a homeless education committee to discuss best practices, and problem solve situations as a collective.

The majority of McKinney-Vento Liaisons are in full-time positions, but because their work includes multiple non-McKinney-Vento responsibilities, most do not have sufficient time to do the work required by the McKinney-Vento Act. The District partially disagrees with the finding. The District does not have firsthand information regarding the workload of McKinney-Vento Liaisons throughout the county and, therefore, cannot wholly agree or disagree with this finding. As it relates to the District, the District disagrees with this finding because in our District the McKinney-Vento Liaison is a full-time position and her duties are all McKinney-Vento related.

Many McKinney-Vento Liaisons lack needed experience due to a high turnover rate in those positions. The District partially disagrees with the finding. The District does not have firsthand information regarding the experience and turnover rate for McKinney-Vento Liaisons throughout the county and, therefore, cannot wholly agree or disagree with this finding. As it relates to the District, the District disagrees with this finding because our McKinney-Vento Liaison has been in her position for more than 20 years.

McKinney-Vento Act training is not mandatory for the majority of McKinney-Vento Liaisons. The District partially disagrees with the finding. The District does not have firsthand information regarding whether or not districts across Orange County mandate McKinney-Vento training and, therefore, cannot wholly agree or disagree with this finding. As it relates to the District, training is mandatory for our McKinney-Vento Liaison and is provided by OCDE and CDE.

Students experiencing homelessness who are enrolled in an elementary district often do not continue to receive McKinney-Vento benefits when they move to a high school district because the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) prevents the sharing of this information between districts. The District partially disagrees with the finding. The District does not have firsthand knowledge regarding this finding across all districts in Orange County and, therefore, cannot wholly agree or disagree with this finding. However, as it relates to our District, we get permission from parents to share with our high school feeder district.

McKinney-Vento funds depend on school districts submitting grant proposals, but not all districts have employees trained in writing grant applications, resulting in missed funding opportunities. The District agrees with this finding.

School districts that do not apply for grants which fund programs benefitting children experiencing homelessness miss potential revenue opportunities. The District agrees with this finding.

McKinney-Vento is an unfunded federally mandated program; however, school districts which qualify and apply for Title I, Part A funds may obtain revenues that can be used for children experiencing homelessness. These funds are insufficient to meet the needs of the school districts supporting children experiencing homelessness. The District agrees with this finding.

A lack of reliable transportation for children experiencing homelessness often results in chronic tardiness and absenteeism. The District agrees with this finding.

Chronic Absenteeism Rates of Homeless Students are disproportionately high in comparison with the Chronic Absenteeism Rates of All Students and Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Students. The District agrees with this finding.

Children experiencing homelessness in Orange County perform at a lower level on standardized tests and have a lower graduation rate than All Students and Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Students. The District agrees with this finding.

The percent of Homeless Students graduating who failed to meet state standards on English Language Arts and Math tests is significantly higher than it is for All Students and Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Students. The District wholly disagrees with the finding. We cannot respond to this finding since we are a PK-6 elementary school district and do not serve graduating high school students.

There is a tendency by school districts to operate in isolation, which prevents productive collaboration on addressing the issue of children experiencing homelessness and the challenges of their education. The District wholly disagrees with the finding. As it relates to our interaction with other school districts in Anaheim, the District disagrees with this finding because we come together as a collaborative monthly to address children experiencing homelessness and the challenges they face.

A significant lack of affordable permanent housing contributes to many families being caught in the cycle of homelessness. The District agrees with this finding.