| (a) School districts and open-enrollment charter schools
shall develop systems to ease transition of a student who is homeless
or in substitute care during the first two weeks of enrollment at
a new school. These systems shall include the following:
(1) welcome packets containing applicable information
regarding enrollment in extracurricular activities, club activities,
information on fee waivers, tutoring opportunities, the student code
of conduct, available student supports, and contact information for
key school staff members such as principals, registrars, counselors,
designated liaisons, nutrition coordinators, and transportation specialists;
(2) introductions for new students that maintain student
privacy and confidentiality to the school environment and school processes
by school district or charter school faculty, campus-based student
leaders, or ambassadors; and
(3) mechanisms to ensure that a process is in place
for all students who qualify to receive nutrition benefits upon enrollment,
as all students who are homeless or in substitute care are eligible
for United States Department of Agriculture Child Nutrition Programs.
The process must expedite communication with the district or charter
school nutrition coordinator to ensure that eligible students are
not charged in error or experience delays in receiving these benefits.
(b) School districts and open-enrollment charter schools
shall convene an enrollment conference within the first two weeks,
or as soon as feasible, after a student who is homeless or in substitute
care enrolls at a new school.
(1) The convening of the enrollment conference shall
not delay or impede the enrollment of the student.
(2) The student's attendance in the conference should
be addressed on a case-by-case basis. The enrollment conference may
be used in conjunction with an existing meeting that is designed for
similar purposes for newly enrolled students.
(3) The enrollment conference shall address the student's
credit recovery, credit completion, attendance plans and trauma-informed
interventions, interests and strengths, discipline or behavior concerns,
previous successes, college readiness, and social and emotional supports
as well as district policies relating to transfers and withdrawals
and communication preferences with parents or guardians. The enrollment
conference may be comprised of:
(A) school administrators;
(B) McKinney-Vento or foster care liaisons;
(C) social workers;
(D) teachers;
(E) school counselors;
(F) dropout prevention specialists;
(G) attendance/truancy officers;
(H) the relative caregiver, foster placement caregiver,
or Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) caseworker;
(I) the DFPS designated educational decision-maker;
(J) the DFPS caseworker, Court Appointed Special Advocates
(CASA) volunteer, or other volunteers, as applicable; and
(K) a parent or guardian, unless the caseworker indicates
the parent's or guardian's rights to participate have been restricted
by the court.
(c) School districts and open-enrollment charter schools
must provide professional development opportunities and resources
to support key staff members such as principals, registrars, counselors,
designated liaisons, nutrition coordinators, and transportation specialists
on local processes and procedures for facilitating successful school
transitions for students who are homeless or in substitute care.
(d) School districts and open-enrollment charter schools
must use the Texas Records Exchange (TREx), the Personal Identification
Database (PID), or the Person Enrollment Tracking (PET) application
to facilitate records transfer and expedite coordination and communication
between the sending and receiving schools. In cases where records
from the student's previous school are missing or cannot be located,
school districts and open-enrollment charter schools should use the
Texas Student Data System (TSDS) Unique ID application to identify
where the student was previously enrolled.
|
