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Meet Our New Team Member
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The Highly Mobile and At-Risk Student Programs Unit is proud to announce that Ms. Desiree Viramontes has joined the team as the new Texas Education for Homeless Children and Youth (TEHCY) State Coordinator. Desiree joins TEA after having served across the state of Texas in Dallas ISD, Austin ISD, and Round Rock ISD for the last sixteen years as a public educator.
Most recently Ms. Viramontes served as the McKinney Vento and Foster Care Liaison for Round Rock ISD, a program with over 1,000 students, while pursuing a Ph.D. at UT Austin in education administration and public policy. She is an innovative leader and a strong advocate for students and families. Ms. Viramontes is committed to serving Texas students, LEAs, and ESCs and looks forward to working with you!
We are thrilled to have Desiree as part of the HMAR Team. Please join us in congratulating Ms. Viramontes on her new role!
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McKinney-Vento / Homeless |
The updated TEHCY Program Infographic is now available! This one-pager visualizes the statewide demographics of students experiencing homelessness. It includes data points such as unaccompanied homeless youth percentages, living situation breakouts, graduation rates, and dual identification with other special programs. It is important that school leaders know and utilize their data. Tools such as the TEHCY Program Infographic and use of similar local data can be helpful for increasing awareness and driving more focus and engagement that benefits students impacted by homelessness.
Technical Assistance Reminders:
Every ESC has a TEHCY McKinney-Vento Liaison to provide technical assistance, professional development, training and resources to LEAs within their Region. Each ESC Region also has a dedicated webpage with TEHCY program information and available resources. Please see TEA’s TEHCY webpage for the ESC Regional TEHCY contacts and get to know your ESC TEHCY McKinney-Vento Program and Liaison contact today!
Coming Soon!
TEA is launching a new and improved TEHCY program website. This updated website will host a variety of resources, tools and training materials to support LEA and ESCs. Additionally, the LEA McKinney-Vento Liaison contacts will be imported from TEA's AskTED database and posted on updated TEHCY website for ease of use and quick viewing!
For any questions related to the McKinney-Vento program, please send an email to HomelessEducation@tea.texas.gov.
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Foster Care & Student Success
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The Foster Care and Education Summit 2023 was held in Education Service Center (ESC) Region 4 in the Houston, TX area. The Summit was organized by the Texas Education Agency, The Children’s Commission, and the Department of Family and Protective Services. The Summit was well attended and covered a variety of beneficial topics addressing ESSA requirements for students in foster care. The Summit included a special guest panel of Foster Care Alumni and a Houston area judge. Through sharing their stories, these inspiring leaders helped participants understand the impact that foster care had on school and the importance of our collaborative efforts to maintain school stability and remove barriers for students.
Thank you to all those who helped plan, support, and organize the Summit. Special thank you to ESC Region 4 for volunteering to host this event. Shout out to ESC Foster Care Champions: Lashonda Evans and Twiana Collier, for all their hard work to make the Summit possible!
We would like to bring the Foster Care & Education Summit to every Education Service Center region. If you are interested in hosting or sponsoring this event, please email fostercareliaison@tea.texas.gov.
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Pregnancy Related Services |
Section 504 & Pregnancy Related Services (PRS):
Prioritizing equitable treatment for pregnant students is essential. Pregnant students have rights that safeguard them against discrimination based on their pregnancy. The Section 504 regulation, outlined in 34 C.F.R. §104.43(a), emphasizes that any student with a disability, including a temporary disability resulting from pregnancy complications, cannot be excluded from participation in, denied benefits of, or subjected to discrimination in any postsecondary education aids, benefits, or services.
While a standard, healthy pregnancy is not typically considered a disability, it's important to recognize that a pregnant student may, at times, experience temporary disabilities due to complications like gestational diabetes. In such cases, these students are entitled to the same rights and protections as their peers with temporary disabilities, provided they meet the eligibility requirements outlined in Section 504.
For more information on serving pregnant students and determining their eligibility for Section 504 services, please visit the Section 504 webpage or the Technical Assistance: Section 504 guide on TEA’s website. You can also view the Frequently Asked Questions for Protecting Students with Disabilities on the USDE website. Additional support information can also be found in TEA's Student Attendance Accounting Handbook, Section 9: Pregnancy Related Services.
We hope you find these resources to be very helpful in supporting our students being served by Pregnancy Related Services. For any questions related to PRS, please send an email to PregnancyRelatedServices@tea.texas.gov.
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