Student Supports
Special populations refers to ESUHSD students who must overcome personal and educational barriers that may require special consideration and attention to ensure equal opportunity for success in an educational setting. ESUHSD students are provided support that will ensure they have equal access to education resources and opportunities. (Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, 2020)
Foster YouthTop of Page
Students in foster care represent one of the most vulnerable and academically at-risk student groups enrolled in California schools. Different definitions of children and youth in foster care are used in relation to programs, services, educational entitlements, and programmatic funding supporting foster youth in schools. These definitions can vary at both the state and federal levels.
Foster Youth are any youth under the age of 21 who has been neglected or abused by a parent or guardian. The youth enters the child welfare system and becomes a ward of the State/Court or if a family undergoes any kind of family maintenance. The youth can be a ward of the court and either live in the parents’ care, foster home or group home.
Foster youth have unique needs and specific educational rights to support these students’ success in California schools.
A summary of the California Education Codes pertaining to foster youth can be found on the California Department of Education’s website.
Download the two-page handout on Foster Youth Education Rights(PDF) for an overview of the education rights of foster.
Download the Foster Youth Education Law Fact Sheets created by the California Foster Youth Education Task Force (CFYETF) from the links below. These fact sheets are located on CFYETF's website and provide information on the needs and rights of foster youth in California schools.
Justice Engaged YouthTop of Page
The desired outcome is for Justice Engaged Youth to have improved school attendance, academic achievement, and increased school-based pro-social activities/peers, ultimately reducing involvement in the criminal justice system. To achieve the goal, collaboration must be had by all stakeholders in the student's life, such as guardians, Probation Officer, County Office Of Education staff, and District/School staff.
McKinney VentoTop of Page
Welcome to the East Side Union High School District McKinney Vento program. Under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 United States Code § 11431-11435) the definition of “homeless youth” is a student who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. “Unaccompanied homeless youth” is defined as a child or youth who meets the McKinney-Vento definition and is not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian.
This includes students:
- who are sharing the housing of others due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason;
- are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations;
- are living in emergency or transitional shelters;
- who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings;
- who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings;
The McKinney-Vento Act also requires that:
- homeless students who move have the right to remain in their schools of origin (i.e., the school the student attended when permanently housed or in which the student was last enrolled, which includes preschools) if that is in the student’s best interest;
- if it is in the student’s best interest to change schools, homeless students must be immediately enrolled in a new school, even if they do not have the records normally required for enrollment;
- If a student is sent to a school other than that requested by a parent or guardian, the district must provide a written explanation to the parent or guardian of its decision and their right to appeal. California’s Homeless Education Dispute Resolution Process is located at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/hs/cy/documents/disputeresolutionletter2020.docx.
- In determining best interest, the district shall:
- Presume that keeping the student in the school of origin is in the student’s best interest, unless contrary to the request of the parent, guardian, or unaccompanied youth
- Consider student-centered factors, including the impact of mobility on achievement, education, health, and safety
- Give priority to the request of the parent/guardian or the homeless unaccompanied youth’s request
- If the district liaison determines that it is not in the student’s best interest, the district liaison, must provide a written explanation of the reasons for its determination, in a manner and form understandable to such parent, guardian, or unaccompanied youth, including the right to appeal
- transportation must be provided to or from a student’s school of origin, at the request of a parent, guardian, or, in the case of an unaccompanied youth, the local liaison;
- homeless students must have access to all programs and services for which they are eligible, including special education services, preschool, school nutrition programs, language assistance for English learners, career and technical education, gifted and talented programs, magnet schools, charter schools, summer learning, online learning, and before- and after school care;
- unaccompanied youth must be accorded specific protections, including immediate enrollment in school without proof of guardianship; and -parents, guardians, and unaccompanied youth have the right to dispute an eligibility, school selection, or enrollment decision.
The following are resources available to our students who are identified under the McKinney Vento program:
Academic Resources (Each of our school sites have academic support available to you. Please go to the school’s website for more information)
Medical Assistance
- Medical Assistance
- Valley Health Plan
- Vision to Learn
Housing Resources
Food Sources
College Preparedness
The following are resources related to the Federal law and rights of students identified under the McKinney Vento Act:
- Children's Rights under McKinney Vento [PDF]
- California Department of Education
- Rental Assistance
- Children's Rights Homeless Poster [PDF]
- AB167 Form [PDF]
ESUHSD District Homeless Liaison:
Maryam Adalat, MSW, PPSC
Phone Number: 405-347-5331
Email: adalatm@esuhsd.org
Santa Clara County Office of Education Homeless Liaison:
Joann Vaars
Phone Number: 408-453-1463
Phone Number: 408-453-1463
Email: jvaars@sccoe.org