Title I is a federally funded program designed to provide financial assistance to schools, with high percentages of children from low-income families, in order to assist schools in ensuring that students meet challenging academic standards for their grade levels.

Liberty Elementary is designated as a Title I school. Liberty employs highly qualified Title I staff who implement instructional strategies focused on scientifically-based research.

Title One Resources: Letter to Families, Translated Letter to Families, Parent Involvement Plan 19-20

The McKinney-Vento Act provides homeless and highly mobile students with certain rights so they have access to opportunities that will help them meet the same high academic standards expected of all students in our district. Homeless students live in any of the situations listed below:

• Children and youth who are sharing the housing of others due to a loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason;
• Children and youth living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to lack of adequate alternative accommodations;
• Living in emergency or transitional shelters;
• Abandoned in hospitals;
• Living in a public or private place not designated for humans as a regular sleeping accommodation;
• Living in cars, parks, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar places;
• Migratory children living in any of the above circumstances.

Under the McKinney-Vento Act, children and youth in homeless situations have the right to:

• Go to school, no matter where they live or how long they have lived there
• Attend either the local school or the school of origin, if this is in their best interest; the school of origin is the school the child attended when she/he was permanently housed or the school in which the child was last enrolled
• Receive transportation to and from the school of origin
• Enroll in school immediately
• Participate fully in school activities
• Have access to the same programs and services that are available to all other students including transportation and supplemental educational services

If you have questions about Homeless Services, please contact the Director of Teaching and Learning. Other helpful resources include school counselors, social workers, nurses, and teachers. To establish Homeless eligibility and services, please fill out the Homeless form. 

Students that are in foster care face unique challenges in maintaining educational stability. The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Fostering Connections) and Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 require that social service agencies and local education agencies collaborate to ensure the educational stability of foster care students.

For students who are awaiting foster care placement, Big Lake Schools is committed to:

• Collaborating with Sherburne County and/or other social services programs from other counties to support the educational needs of the student(s), including coordination of transportation
• Assisting in keeping students in their same school when their out-of-home placement changes
• Helping students immediately enroll in school and transfer their school records
• Ensuring students receive free school meals
• Coordinating student transportation to his or her school of origin whenever possible

For more information about assistance, please contact the Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning.