Hot Springs School District

The Hot Springs School District Welcome Center opened in August of 2019. We are proud to offer the services and resources below at that facility (702 Main Street): 

• Food Pantry
• Clothes Closet
• Referrals to Resources
• Free Use of Washer and Dryer
• Personal Care Items
• Classes to assist in Job skills, Budgeting, Home Buying and More

Who are homeless children and youth?
The McKinney-Vento Act's definition who qualifies as a homeless child or youth is quite broad: "Children and youth who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence," including, but not limited to:

• You live in a shelter.
• You live in a car, park, or abandoned building or a place where people normally do not live.
• You live in a trailer park or camping area because you have nowhere else to go.
• You live with another family because you’ve lost your housing due to financial issues.
• You are a child waiting to be placed in foster care (in some situations).
• You are a runaway youth or migratory child living in any of the above situations.
• Foster Care with no permanency plan. 

What educational rights does McKinney-Vento guarantee for homeless children and youth?

• Students can remain in their school of origin ("school of origin" means the school a child attended when permanently housed or in which he/she was last enrolled).
• Students must receive transportation to their school of origin.
• Students have the right to immediate enrollment, even if they don't have all their paperwork - for example, medical/health records, proof of residency, former school records, immunization records.
• Students have a right to access to all of the school's programs and services on the same basis as all other students, including special education, migrant education, vocational education, school nutrition programs (school breakfast and lunch)), and extracurricular activities.
• Students and their families have access to a dispute resolution process when they disagree with a school about how the McKinney-Vento Act applies in their situation

>>Read: HSSD District Policy and Procedures for Homeless and Displaced Children and Youth