BULLHEAD CITY — On any given school day, there are estimated 60 to 400 students legally considered homeless in the Tri-State area and Colorado River Valley. Of that, 50 to 175 are – or should be – enrolled in the Bullhead City School District (BCSD). Many don’t know what rights and resources are available.
The extra services and support are provided under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, signed into law by Pres. Ronald Reagan and expanded several times since. Student homelessness includes temporary housing such as staying in someone else’s house or apartment due to loss of housing, eviction, economic hardship or similar situations. It can also include living in a hotel or motel, vehicle, shelter, park, campground or other inadequate space.
Each public school district and public charter school is required by law to have a McKinney-Vento homeless liaison. BCSD’s liaison works with not only students enrolled in the district, but those whose families may have siblings attending adjoining schools, or in some cases children not yet enrolled in school.
All assistance is confidential. It can include helping a child stay in the same school to avoid disruption if moving within, or adjacent to, the district, help with immediate enrollment if needed documents aren’t available, connecting younger children to early childhood services, and community service referrals for help with other needs.
All BCSD students are eligible for free school meals, so no homeless students are singled out as recipients. In addition to grant-funded programs, BCSD also relies on support and donations from area individuals, businesses and community organizations.
Families within BCSD may contact homeless liaison Sheree Norris at 928-758-3961, ext. 1026, for additional information. Families with homeless students in other public or public charter schools should contact those districts directly. The Arizona Department of Education also has information at https://www.azed.gov/homeless .
