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Foster Care

Noble Public Schools · Federal Programs

Keeping School Steady for Students in Foster Care

When a child comes into state custody or moves placements, federal law protects one thing above all: their school. A student in foster care stays at the school they were already attending whenever that is in their best interest, and enrolls immediately when it is not.

Who This Covers Staying at the Same School Immediate Enrollment Transportation Activities and Everyday Decisions Transfers If There Is a Disagreement Contact

Who This Covers

"Children in foster care" means any child in state custody, including placements in:

  • Foster family homes
  • Foster homes of relatives
  • Group homes
  • Emergency shelters
  • Residential facilities
  • Childcare institutions
  • Pre-adoptive homes

Foster care is not the same as homelessness

Students in state custody fall under the foster care rules on this page. Since 2016 they are not considered homeless under the McKinney-Vento Act. If your family's housing is unstable but your child is not in state custody, see School Enrollment and Support When Housing Is Unstable instead.

Noble works with caregivers, caseworkers and the local Oklahoma Human Services Child Welfare office to make sure a child in foster care has equitable access to their school of origin, as required under the Every Student Succeeds Act.

Staying at the Same School

The starting assumption is that a child stays where they are. When a child is placed outside the Noble district but their school of origin is a Noble school, the district's point of contact works with Oklahoma Human Services and the foster family to decide whether staying is still best for the child. That decision is documented on a Best Interest Determination form.

The determination weighs, among other things:

  • The wishes of the child, and the child's own preferences
  • The wishes of the foster family, and of Oklahoma Human Services
  • Safety
  • The distance and time required to travel, and how a commute of that length would affect a child of that age
  • The child's age and grade level
  • The child's academic performance, continuity of education, and engagement at their current school
  • The child's attachment to the school, including relationships with staff and peers, and the school climate
  • Social adjustment and well-being
  • Where the child's siblings are placed
  • Where in the school year the move falls, the anticipated length of the placement, the permanency goal, and the likelihood of reunification
  • Special education programming, and whether services on an IEP or a Section 504 plan are available at another school
  • Whether the child is an English learner receiving language services, and whether those services are available elsewhere
  • The child's history of school transfers and how those moves affected them

When a long commute is too much. Noble's position is that the school of best interest is most often the school of origin — but not always. Where the drive is long enough to harm a child's social or academic life, staying is not the right answer. As general guidance, the district treats a reasonable commute as up to 30 miles and 45 minutes one way, allowing for traffic.

Immediate Enrollment

When it is decided that remaining at the school of origin is not in the child's best interest, the child is immediately enrolled in the school of residence by the caregiver or the caseworker. Enrollment cannot be denied or delayed because documents normally required for enrollment have not been provided.

"Caregiver" here means a foster parent the child has been placed with, a representative of a group home, or the designated official at a residential child care facility.

Records shared between the schools and the agency

  • The Best Interest Determination form, for both the school of origin and the receiving school
  • The transportation agreement
  • The student's school records
  • The student's academic schedule
  • Records of guardianship and custody

Transportation

If the Best Interest Determination calls for a school placement that needs a special transportation arrangement, Noble's point of contact notifies the district Transportation Department and convenes a meeting of the people involved — which may include the Oklahoma Human Services representative, the foster parent, the school administrator, the transportation department and the point of contact.

  1. The arrangement is written down

    A Homeless/Foster Care Transportation Request Form sets out what transportation is needed, what it will cost, and who pays.

  2. The cost is settled between the district and the agency

    Federal law allows three outcomes: Oklahoma Human Services reimburses the district for the additional cost, the district absorbs it, or the two share it. Additional cost is calculated by the district Transportation Office based on vehicle availability, the distance from the child's residence to the nearest applicable bus stop, and the fuel and staffing required.

  3. Plan on about a week of temporary transportation

    Setting up district transportation takes time, and how long depends on current demand, staff and vehicle availability, and where the child lives. The foster family or Oklahoma Human Services should plan to cover transportation for at least the first week. In practice it is usually less.

  4. During a dispute, the district transports

    If there is a disagreement about transportation or placement, the district provides transportation until it is resolved.

Noble's Transportation Department: April Jennings, Director, (405) 872-3455, ajennings@nobleps.com. See Transportation.

Activities and Everyday Decisions

A caregiver uses the reasonable and prudent parent standard when deciding whether a child can take part in extracurricular, enrichment, cultural and social activities — the standard of "careful and sensible parental decisions that maintain the health, safety, and best interests of a child while at the same time encouraging the emotional and developmental growth of the child" (10A O.S. §1-1-105). Every facility must designate at least one employee, trained in that standard, who is authorized to make those calls.

In plain terms: a child in foster care should be able to go on the field trip, try out for the team, and stay for the club meeting.

Transfers Into Noble

  • Capacity does not apply. A child in Oklahoma Human Services custody who is living in the home of a student who has transferred to Noble may transfer here regardless of the district's capacity.
  • The two-transfer limit does not apply. State law caps most students at two transfers per school year. Students in foster care are exempt.
  • See Transferring Into Noble Public Schools for the general process.

If There Is a Disagreement

The district and Oklahoma Human Services both act in the child's interest, but they come at it from different angles, so disputes happen. When one does:

  • The child stays in school. Throughout the dispute, the child must be enrolled and attending.
  • The child stays where they are. If the disagreement is about which school is the school of best interest, the child remains at the school they currently attend until it is resolved — unless arrangements already in place let them attend the school of origin.
  • The district transports. Until the dispute is resolved.
  • Start by contacting the district's foster care point of contact below. The full complaint resolution process is Appendix C of the district plan.

Noble's Foster Care Point of Contact

Kim Vance

Foster Care Point of Contact

Coordinates with the child welfare agency, leads and documents the best interest determination, facilitates record transfer and immediate enrollment, arranges transportation, resolves disputes about placement and transportation costs, makes sure students in foster care are enrolled and attending, and trains school staff on these requirements.

kvance@nobleps.com · (405) 872-3452

Noble Public Schools, 111 S. 4th St., Noble, OK 73068

Foster Care Enrollment & Transportation Plan (PDF)

Caseworkers and caregivers: start here

You do not need to work out which Noble school or which department to call. Contact Kim Vance at (405) 872-3452 and she will coordinate enrollment, records and transportation across the district.

Noble Public Schools · 111 S. 4th St., Noble, OK 73068 · contactus@nobleps.com