Youth who are experiencing homelessness have additional rights under a federal law called the McKinney-Vento Act and rights under Pennsylvania’s Act 1, if they have changed school entities at least once in a school year due to experiencing homelessness. This fact sheet provides detailed information and resources for youth experiencing homelessness regarding their education rights under federal and state law. A sample McKinney-Vento complaint form is provided.
A fact sheet providing information for parents and guardians on the rules and procedures for student expulsions from school district and charter schools.
While public schools have wide latitude to create rules, they must follow their own rules. Thus, a school can only expel a student for a violation of a school rule if the school has officially adopted and distributed the rule. School rules should be listed in a published Code of Student Conduct that should be given to all students and parents.
Please note – this document is available in Spanish.
Enrolling a child who is not experiencing homelessness or is in foster care: If a child is living with you and you are not with their parent, they have the right to attend school where you live if certain conditions are met. Most schools have their own form to determine whether the child living with you is eligible to enroll in the school catchment where you reside. Check with the school first to see if they have a specific form they want you to use. If not, you may be able to use this form to establish that the child living with you is eligible to enroll in the school catchment where you reside. Your school district’s form will be similar to this. Regardless of whether you use the school’s form or the sample form above, the document you will complete is an affidavit (sworn statement), which means that you are certifying that all information you provide on the form is correct. NOTE: You can face legal penalties if you knowingly complete an affidavit form using false information to enroll a child into school.