As part of the FLDOE's ongoing efforts to improve the support and education of homeless students, an annual audit of the CCDS Homeless Education programming is conducted to identify high-quality practices, areas in need of revision, and policies that may require updates based on recently enacted legislative mandates (Clay TIXPA Monitoring Follow-Up).  The current Board Policy describing key elements of that support is being updated at this time based on feedback from the Title IX office of the FLDOE.

Homeless students are present in almost all of the district schools requiring a varying degree of support.  The School Social Workers are the primary contact when connecting students and families to social services, and the primary liaison with the school.  The district has benefited from state grants in the past, but at this time the program is supported through set-aside funds in Title I and district general allocations.

Clay County District Schools currently has 850 students identified as homeless per federal and state definition.  They are supported by both state and federal guidance as one way to minimize barriers to their formal education, and maximize their full potential.

All of the state-required revisions to the SBCC policy on homeless education are already in practice but will now be aligned with explicit language to guide the work.

Recommend that the SBCC approve advertisement of the policy revisions.

The Board intends to formally adopt the proposed revisions following the public hearing which will be held on Thursday, September 5, 2019.