Schtia-yorba Placentia-yorba Linda Alex Cherniss, Ed.D. Superintendent Unified School District Board of Education*

Many children experiencing homelessness are not identified as such, and therefore do not receive the support and benefits authorized by the McKinney-Vento Act. Response to Finding 1: The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District disagrees wholly or partially with this finding. PYLUSD has done a thorough job of identifying our McKinney Vento population. We currently have identified 13.7% or 3,284 students who are MV. We support them through our Family Resource Center, assisting them by providing support and benefits authorized by the McKinney Vento Act.

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. Response to Finding 2: The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District disagrees wholly or partially with this finding. PYLUSD trains all staff throughout the year, which has resulted in the identification of students eligible for the McKinney Vento Program, as verified without consistent McKinney Vento count. Preparing Every Student For Success Now And In The Future The Honorable Maria D. Hernandez Presiding Judge, Orange County Superior Court August 21, 2023

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. Response to Finding 3: The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District agrees with this finding. This is an accurate statement based on what the PYLUSD McKinney liaison has gathered in fourteen years. Other local school districts do not have the same numbers as PYLUSD, even though they are in the same economic zone. It does not seem like every school district is counting their McKinney Vento equally and with the same earnestness.

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. Response to Finding 4: The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District agrees with this finding. In PYLUSD, the McKinney Vento Liaison is 50% ELPAC and 50% McKinney Vento. The majority of the Liaison's time is taken up by McKinney Vento tasks/work. It would be helpful that the Liaison was 100% McKinney Vento in order to completely address the needs of our McKinney Vento population.

Many McKinney-Vento Liaisons lack needed experience due to a high turnover rate in those positions. Response to Finding 5: The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District agrees with this finding. Although this statement is not accurate for PYLUSD, as our current liaison has been in this position for 14 years, the district agrees that it is accurate for many school districts in Orange County. In attending the HOPES Collaborative meetings at OCDE, PYLUSD sees firsthand how liaisons come and go for other districts, and few are in place for more than two or three years. The Honorable Maria D. Hernandez Presiding Judge, Orange County Superior Court August 21, 2023

McKinney-Vento Act training is not mandatory for the majority of McKinney- Vento Liaisons. Response to Finding 6: The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District agrees with this finding. Here at PYLUSD, the McKinney Vento liaison is supported in many ways. Primarily, the opportunity to attend professional development at the county, state and national level pertaining to homeless education is always encouraged and even insisted upon.

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. Response to Finding 7: The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District disagrees wholly or partially with this finding. Because PYLUSD is a unified school district, they closely track the transition of their McKinney Vento students through all of the grade levels form pre-kindergarten to 12th grade. There is a seamless transition and the McKinney Vento Liaison has access to AERIES for all grade levels to maintain continuity of benefits.

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. Response to Finding 8: The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District agrees with this finding. PYLUSD has a liaison trained in grant writing, who has successfully written five grant proposals which were all awarded. Moving forward, it will be imperative that new liaisons are trained to write the EHCY grant. PYLUSD has other trained professionals on hand to assist the liaison when writing the grants. It is apparent that other school districts may not have knowledgeable grant writers in this field as many do not apply for or receive the EHCY grant, or perhaps they are not interested in applying for it. The Honorable Maria D. Hernandez Presiding Judge, Orange County Superior Court August 21, 2023

School districts that do not apply for grants which fund programs benefitting children experiencing homelessness miss potential revenue opportunities. Response to Finding 9: The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District agrees with this finding. All school districts should apply for these grant opportunities in order to better serve their McKinney Vento students.

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. Response to Finding 10: The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District agrees with this finding. PYLUSD allocates nine percent of their Title 1, Part A funds for the McKinney Vento program. These funds have been consistently used for the McKinney Vento program throughout the years. PYLUSD feels that additional funding is necessary to meet the needs of our McKinney Vento students, especially after the American Rescue Plan funds are depleted.

A lack of reliable transportation for children experiencing homelessness often results in chronic tardiness and absenteeism. Response to Finding 11: The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District agrees with this finding. PYLUSD offers OCTA bus passes for McKinney Vento students who need them to get to and from school when they move out of our school boundaries. For younger students, PYLUSD offers bus passes to the parents so that they can accompany their children. Special education students, who are also McKinney Vento, are bussed by district transportation, or by private ride services. Chronic tardiness is often a problem for MV students who rely on their parents to transport them. Often times, their transportation is unreliable, and students are late or absent from school. The Honorable Maria D. Hernandez Presiding Judge, Orange County Superior Court August 21, 2023

Chronic Absenteeism Rates of Homeless Students are disproportionately high in comparison with the Chronic Absenteeism Rates of All Students and Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Students. Response to Finding 12: The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District agrees with this finding. PYLUSD's chronic absenteeism rate is 17.9%. The homeless student chronic absenteeism rate is 28.7%. The district agrees that this is disproportionately higher in homeless students.

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. Response to Finding 13: The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District disagrees wholly or partially with this finding. This statement is very broad and does not apply to all students.

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. Response to Finding 14: The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District agrees with this finding. PYLUSD's homeless students are less likely to meet state standards for ELA and Math when compared to non-homeless peers.

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. Response to Finding 15: The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District disagrees wholly or partially with this finding. Orange County is lucky to have the HOPES Collaborative, offered by the Orange County Department of Education. There, all liaisons gather and share ideas and information to The Honorable Maria D. Hernandez Presiding Judge, Orange County Superior Court August 21, 2023 improve their respective programs for McKinney Vento students and families. The more a liaison attends these meetings, the more liaisons they meet for further collaboration.

A significant lack of affordable permanent housing contributes to many families being caught in the cycle of homelessness. Response to Finding 16: The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District agrees with this finding. PYLUSD agrees completely with fact that there is a significant lack of affordable housing in Orange County. It is the greatest barriers families face in finding stability in Orange County. Affordable housing is scarce in Orange County and increasingly hard to find for all families, not just McKinney Vento families.