McKinney-Vento Information
If you lost your housing and now live in temporary or inadequate housing, your child might be able to receive help through a federal law called the McKinney-Vento Act. If you are a young person who is no longer living with your parent/guardian in one of the situations above, you may also qualify for help.
The McKinney-Vento Act defines "homeless children and youth" as those who "lack a regular, fixed, and adequate night-time residence" and includes the following:
- children and youth who are sharing the housing of other persons due to the 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 accommodations
- are living in emergency or transitional shelters
- are abandoned in hospitals
- children and youth 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
- children and youth who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings
- migratory children who qualify as homeless for the purposes of this subtitle because the children are living in circumstances described above
Under the McKinney-Vento Act, children and youth in homeless situations have the right to:
- Go to school, no matter where they live or how long they have lived there.
- Attend either the local school or the school of origin, if this is in their best interest; the school of origin is the school the child attended when he/she was permanently housed or the school in which the child was last enrolled.
- Receive transportation to and from the school of origin.
- Enroll in school immediately, even if missing records and documents normally required for enrollment, such as a birth certificate, proof of residence, previous school records, or immunization/medical records.
- Enroll, attend classes, and participate fully in all school activities while the school gathers records.
- Have access to the same programs and services that are available to all other students, including transportation and supplemental educational services.
- Attend school with children not experiencing homelessness; a school can not segregate a student because he or she is homeless.
In Wilkes County Schools, the school social workers meet with parents/guardians or youth living without their parents/guardians to determine if students are eligible for the services listed above.
You may contact the school social workers directly by phone or email (listed below).
The school social workers and the schools they serve are listed below:
Angel Bell serves Boomer Ferguson Elementary, Mulberry Elementary, and North Wilkesboro Elementary. You can call or text her at 336-818-9225.
Regina Brown serves North Wilkes High, Roaring River Elementary, and Traphill Elementary. You can call or text her at 336-443-0463.
Laken Harrold serves Mountain View Elementary and North Wilkes Middle. You can call or text her at 828-414-1713.
Maria Renegar serves C.B. Eller Elementary, Ronda Clingman Elementary, East Wilkes Middle and East Wilkes High. You can call or text her at 336-426-2378.
Amber Shumate serves Millers Creek Elementary and West Wilkes High. You can call or text her at 336-466-2491.
Alma Sosa-Ponce serves C.C. Wright Elementary and Central Wilkes Middle. You can call or text her at 336-818-9243.
Penny Souther serves Mount Pleasant Elementary, West Wilkes Middle, and Wilkes Early College High. You can call or text her at 336-984-1159.
Brandy Walsh serves Moravian Falls Elementary, Wilkesboro Elementary, and Wilkes Central High. You can call or text her at 336-818-9171.
If you have trouble contracting the school social worker for your child's school or have additional questions about the information above, please contact April Marr, the Director of Student Services and McKinney-Vento Liaison for the district. You can call her at 336-667-1121.
Additionally, the NC Homeless Education Program State Coordinator, Lisa Phillips, may also be reached by telephone at 336-315-7491.
The NC Homeless Education Program website is https://hepnc.uncg.edu
Wilkes County Schools has identified the following numbers of children and youth experiencing homelessness over the past ten years:
For more data and information on homeless children and youth in NC, please visit the following websites: