Homeless Education
Homeless Education Liaison (K-12): Kevin Brook
Email: brookks@billingsschools.org
Community Liaison-Homeless Education: Emma Bartel
Phone: (406) 281-6719 (office)
Email: bartele@billingsschools.org
Community Liaison-Homeless Education: Kim Sherman
Email: shermank@billingsschools.org
If you are a parent/guardian or student in need of assistance you my contact the building principal or the BPS Community Liaisons-Homeless Education - Emma Bartel or Kim Sherman or the Homeless Education Liaison - Kevin Brook (brookks@billingsschools.org).
Support for students experiencing homelessness or high poverty is located at the Family Resource Center or additional information can be found by contacting a BPS Community Liaison.
The purpose of our program is to ensure that all homeless students have the same equal access to a free and appropriate education.
How do we determine if a child is homeless?
Under the McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act, a child may be classified as homeless using the following definition:
The term "homeless children and youth" means individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence and includes those individuals:
- Sharing the housing of others due to loss of housing or economic hardship (two or more families living in a home)
- Living in motels/hotels due to lack of alternative accommodations
- Living in emergency or transitional shelters
- Living in cars, tents or abandoned buildings
- Living in campgrounds or cars
- Living in substandard housing (lacks electricity or running water)
- Unaccompanied youth (not living in the physical custody of a parent or legal guardian and lacking a regular, fixed, nighttime residence)
If you are a parent/guardian or a student in need of assistance you may contact the building principal or the district's Homeless Education Liaison - Kevin Brook (406-281-6719).
Educational rights for students experiencing homelessness
Children and youth experiencing homelessness have the right to:
- Go to school, no matter where they live or how long they have lived here.
- Continue in the school they attended before they became homeless or the school they last attended, if that is the parent's or youth's choice and is feasible.
- Receive transportation to the school they attended before becoming homeless (school of origin).
- Enroll in school without a permanent address.
- Enroll and attend classes while the school arranges for the transfer of school and immunization records or any other document required for enrollment.
- Receive the same special programs and services, if needed, as provided to all other children or youths served in these programs.
- Attend school with children not experiencing homelessness; segregation based on a student's status as homeless is prohibited.
If you would like to review policies regarding homelessness for Billings Public Schools, choose a topic below.
- Education for Homeless Children
- Enrollment of Homeless Children
- Uniform Complaint Procedure
- Complaint Form
Resources
- On the Web:
- National Association for the Education of Homeless Children & Youth (NAEHCY)
- Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) Homeless Assistance
- Community Resources Website
- Family Resource Center
Healthcare for the Homeless:
Main site: 2424 1st Avenue North
RiverStone Health Clinic
Closed 12pm-1pm
RiverStone Health Dental Clinic
RiverStone Health Immunization Clinic
406.247.3382
RiverStone Health Pharmacy
8:30am - 5:30pm, closed at 5pm the last Friday of each month.