School Districts Must Provide Additional Procedural Protections to Students, Families

Amendments to the Pennsylvania School Code provide additional protections to students and families involved in residency disputes with their local school districts. The changes will take effect on September 16, 2024.

The amendments prohibit school districts from disenrolling a student until the following prerequisites have been met:

1. The parents or guardians or any other person having charge or care of the child are given an opportunity to appeal the decision through a hearing held pursuant to an appropriate grievance policy and any appeal has been exhausted.
2. The parents or guardians or any other person having charge or care of the child are given notice of and decline to participate in a hearing pursuant to the appropriate grievance policy of the school district or appeals process.
3. The school district’s liaison for homeless children and youth has given the parents or guardians or any other person having charge or care of the child information regarding the educational rights of homeless students under 42 U.S.C. § 11431 (relating to statement of policy). This information must be provided in a manner and form understandable to the adults to whom it’s given.
4. A court enters an order directing the child to be disenrolled and enrolled in a different school.

These protections apply when the school district is contesting that the parents and/or student reside within the district. They also apply if the district is contesting an affidavit of a person claiming to care for the child gratis in their home.

There are several steps school districts should take to prepare for this change.

1. Review and, where appropriate, revise their policies and procedures to ensure compliance.
2. Develop a notice of the student’s rights as a potentially homeless student under federal law or the McKinney-Vento Act and include it with the notice of hearing for a residency hearing and/or with the initial correspondence raising residency issues with a parent.
3. Be prepared to keep a student enrolled in the district for the entirety of the dispute or until a court rules otherwise.

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