School of Origin and 'Base' School

Students in transition legally have the right to attend either the school of origin or the local attendance area school (known as 'base school' in the Wake County Public School System).

• School of origin is defined as:
• the school that the child or youth attended when permanently housed;
• or the school in which the child or youth was last enrolled
• Local attendance area school is defined as any public school that non-homeless students who live in the attendance area in which the child or youth is actually living are eligible to attend (or, the school assigned to the residential temporary address)

Rising Kindergarten, 6th and 9th graders attend the base school because they do not have a school of origin.

Calendar Option or Other School Choice

Families that would like a student under the McKinney-Vento Program to attend a calendar option school or any other school choice other than the school of origin (see definition above) or base school must request a transfer through the Office of Student Assignment (919-431-7333). If the transfer is approved, the parent/guardian/caregiver may be responsible for transportation.

A student with a transfer status that becomes displaced and meets criteria for the McKinney-Vento Program can remain at the attending school with transportation because the school then becomes the student's school of origin.

Capped Schools

A capped school must allow students in transition to return (regardless of the cap) if the student attended the capped school in the prior or current school year.

If a student has not attended the capped school in the prior or current school year; the capped school is the attendance area school; and the student meets criteria for the McKinney-Vento Program, the capped school will follow the normal process of forwarding a student to an overflow school.

Special Education Services Assignments

If Special Education Services assigns a student with an IEP to a specific school/classroom that best meets the student's educational needs, the student in transition will attend the school placement. If a parent/guardian/caregiver does not agree with the placement, the parent/guardian/caregiver should follow the appeals process through Special Education Services. Any student assigned by Special Education Services and has transportation as a service written in the IEP will receive transportation.

Application Schools

If a parent/guardian/caregiver/youth applies for a magnet school or other application school while experiencing homelessness and is approved, the student will receive the same mode of transportation as housed students. For example, a student living in a shelter applies to an application school and is accepted. The student in the shelter would use the same transportation as any housed student. No special contract transportation through the McKinney-Vento Program would be provided because the family chose a school that was not the attendance area school or the school of origin, as per federal law. Thus, the family is subject to comparable transportation services.