Under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvement Act of 2001, school systems are required to enact policies and procedures that eliminate barriers to enrollment, placement, instruction, and equative access for students experiencing homelessness. Caroline County Public Schools (CCPS) has traditionally accomplished this through various Board of Education policies and several Student Services Division internal procedures.
Updated guidance from the Maryland State Department of Education suggests that these efforts be part of a comprehensive stand-alone policy to ensure compliance in all areas. To that end, policy was drafted using the MSDE model policy combined with CCPS current practice, and is now under consideration by the Board of Education.
The draft policy is available on the website:
Policy: Elimination of Barriers to Students Experiencing Homelessness
The public is invited to share feedback with the Board by emailing comments to communications@ccpsstaff.org. Comments will be accepted until noon on Monday, December 1, 2025.
According to Board policy, new and revised policies are reviewed by the Board at least two meetings prior to their adoption. Revised policies may be adopted after review at one meeting. The exception is a new policy that is required by the Maryland State Department of Education, which may be adopted with one reading by the Board.