22.1-3 - Persons to whom public schools shall be free.
§ 22.1-3. Persons to whom public schools shall be free.
A. The public schools in each school division shall be free to each person ofschool age who resides within the school division. Every person of school ageshall be deemed to reside in a school division:
1. When the person is living with a natural parent, or a parent by legaladoption;
2. When the person is living with an individual who is defined as a parent in§ 22.1-1, not solely for school purposes, pursuant to a Special Power ofAttorney executed under Title 10, United States Code, § 1044b, by thecustodial parent while such custodial parent is deployed outside the UnitedStates as a member of the Virginia National Guard or as a member of theUnited States Armed Forces;
3. When the parents of such person are dead and the person is living with aperson in loco parentis who actually resides within the school division;
4. When the parents of such person are unable to care for the person and theperson is living, not solely for school purposes, with another person whoresides in the school division and is either (i) the court-appointedguardian, or has legal custody, of the person or (ii) acting in loco parentispursuant to placement of the person for adoption by a person or entityauthorized to do so under § 63.2-1200;
5. When the person is living in the school division not solely for schoolpurposes, as an emancipated minor; or
6. When the person living in the school division is a homeless child oryouth, as set forth in this subdivision, who lacks a fixed, regular, andadequate nighttime residence. Such persons shall include (i) children andyouths, including unaccompanied youths who are not in the physical custody oftheir parents, who (a) are sharing the housing of other persons due to lossof housing, economic hardship, or other causes; are living in motels, hotels,trailer parks, or camping grounds due to lack of alternative adequateaccommodations or in emergency, congregate, temporary, or transitionalshelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement;(b) are living in an institution that provides a temporary residence for thementally ill or individuals intended to be institutionalized; (c) have aprimary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designedfor, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for humanbeings; or (d) are living in parked cars, parks, public spaces, abandonedbuildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings;and (ii) migratory children, as defined in the Elementary and SecondaryEducation Act of 1965, as amended, who are deemed homeless as they are livingin circumstances set forth in clause (i) of this subdivision.
For purposes of clause (i) of subdivision 6, "temporary shelter" means (i)any home, single or multi-unit dwelling or housing unit in which persons whoare without housing or a fixed address receive temporary housing or shelteror (ii) any facility specifically designed or approved for the purpose ofproviding temporary housing or shelter to persons who are without permanenthousing or a fixed address.
If a person resides within housing, temporary shelter, or primary nighttimeresidence as described in subdivision 6 that is situated in more than oneschool division, the person shall be deemed to reside in and shall beentitled to attend a public school within either school division. However, ifa person resides in housing, temporary shelter, or primary nighttimeresidence as described in subdivision 6 that is located in one schooldivision, but the property on which such housing, temporary shelter, orprimary nighttime residence is located lies within more than one schooldivision, such person shall be deemed to reside only in the single schooldivision in which the housing, temporary shelter, or primary nighttimeresidence is located. Notwithstanding any such residency determination, anyperson residing in housing, a temporary shelter, or primary nighttimeresidence as described in subdivision 6 that is located in one schooldivision, but the property on which such housing, temporary shelter, orprimary nighttime residence is located lies within more than one schooldivision, shall be deemed to reside in either school division, if such personor any sibling of such person residing in the same housing or temporaryshelter attends, prior to July 1, 1999, or, in the case of a primarynighttime residence as described in subdivision 6, prior to July 1, 2000, aschool within either school division in which the property on which thehousing, temporary shelter, or primary nighttime residence is located.
School divisions shall comply with the requirements of the federalMcKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements Act of 2001, asamended (42 U.S.C. § 11431 et seq.), to ensure that homeless children andyouths shall receive the educational services comparable to those offered toother public school students.
School divisions serving the students identified in subdivision 6 shallcoordinate the identification and provision of services to such students withrelevant local social services agencies and other agencies and programsproviding services to such students, and with other school divisions as maybe necessary to resolve interdivisional issues.
B. In the interest of providing educational continuity to the children ofmilitary personnel, no child of a person on active military duty attending aschool free of charge in accordance with this section shall be chargedtuition by that school division upon such child's relocation to militaryhousing located in another school division in the Commonwealth, pursuant toorders received by such child's parent to relocate to base housing andforfeit his military housing allowance. Such children shall be allowed tocontinue attending school in the school division they attended immediatelyprior to the relocation and shall not be charged tuition for attending suchschool. Such children shall be counted in the average daily membership of theschool division in which they are enrolled. Further, the school division inwhich such children are enrolled subsequent to their relocation to basehousing shall not be responsible for providing for their transportation toand from school.
(Code 1950, § 22-218; 1954, c. 638; 1958, c. 628; 1968, c. 178; 1972, c. 245;1976, cc. 681, 713; 1978, c. 518; 1980, cc. 559, 576; 1981, cc. 341, 342;1993, c. 903; 1997, c. 826; 1999, cc. 368, 988; 2000, cc. 209, 830; 2004, cc.500, 967; 2006, c. 188.)