The federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (McKinney-Vento Act) establishes requirements for state educational agencies (SEAs), such as the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and school districts for ensuring that homeless children and youths have equal access to the same free, appropriate public education, including a public preschool education, as is provided to other children and youths.  The McKinney-Vento Act is administered by the United States Department of Education.

The McKinney-Vento Act defines homeless children and youths as "individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence," including:

• children and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; living in emergency or transitional shelters; or abandoned in hospitals;
• children and youths 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 youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and
• migratory children living in any of the situations described above.

Under the McKinney-Vento Act, homeless children and youths must have access to the educational and related services they need to enable them to meet the same challenging academic standards to which all students in the state are held.  Additionally, homeless students may not be separated from the mainstream school environment.  The McKinney-Vento Act also requires SEAs and school districts to review and undertake steps to revise laws, regulations, practices, or policies that may act as barriers to the identification, enrollment, attendance, or success in school of homeless children and youths.

The McKinney-Vento Act is implemented through various directives and authorizations, including:

• a statement of congressional policy;
• grant provisions for states, including the awarding of subgrants from SEAs to school districts;
• duties for state coordinators for the education of homeless children and youths;
• requirements for states to create and implement plans to provide for the education of homeless children and youths;
• school district requirements for homeless children and youths, including school stability obligations and specified liaison duties; and
• various duties for the Secretary of the United States Department of Education, including data collection, agency coordination, and reporting.

State requirements are established paralleling the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (McKinney-Vento Act).  These requirements apply to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and school districts, with school district provisions applying equally to charter schools and state-tribal education compact schools.

Actions of the OSPI and school districts that meet requirements of the McKinney-Vento Act as it existed on January 1, 2026, satisfy equivalent requirements established in the bill.

Summary of State Requirements.

The state requirements include the definition of "homeless children and youths" from the McKinney-Vento Act and include:

• declaring a state policy providing, in part, that the OSPI must ensure that each child of a homeless individual and each homeless youth has equal access to the same free, appropriate public education, including a public preschool education for qualifying children, as provided to other children and youths;

• establishing directives for a state plan for the education of homeless children and youths that meets specified requirements, including a description of how homeless children and youths are, or will be, given the opportunity to meet the same challenging state academic standards all students are expected to meet;
• establishing directives for an Office of the Coordinator for Education of Homeless Children and Youths in the OSPI and prescribing duties for the coordinator;
• specifying obligations for school districts, including determining, according to the homeless child or youth's best interest, whether to continue the child or youth's education in the school of origin or enroll the child in a public school in the area in which the child or youth lives;
• obligating school districts to provide education and transportation services for which the child or youth qualifies as a result of a best-interest determination process;
• requiring school districts to have liaisons for homeless children and youths and obligating the liaisons to meet specified responsibilities; and
• directing the OSPI, subject to funding requirements, to award grants to school districts for the purpose of facilitating services related to the identification, enrollment, attendance, and success in school of homeless children and youths.

The OSPI, unless the duties are assigned to the Secretary of the United States Department of Education under the McKinney-Vento Act, is required to periodically collect and disseminate data and information regarding:

• the number and primary nighttime residence of homeless children and youths;
• the education and related services those children and youths receive;
• the extent to which the needs of homeless children and youths are being met; and
• other data and information determined by the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI).

Additionally, the OSPI, by October 1, 2030, and every four years thereafter, must prepare and submit to the Governor and the Legislature, a report on the status of education of homeless children and youths in Washington.  The reports must include information on:

• the education of homeless children and youths; and
• the actions of the SPI and the effectiveness of certain programs for homeless children and youths.