HLERK continues to follow ISBE’s guidance on the transportation of foster care students under the Every Student Succeeds Act (“ESSA”). As we have previously reported in the Extra Mile, the ESSA requires that each local educational agency develop a plan and procedures “governing how transportation will be provided, arranged, and funded for students in foster care, in order to maintain students in their school of origin, should that be in their best interests.”  Most recently, ISBE conducted a webinar (materials available HERE) covering the development of such procedures and an overview of the best interest determination. Importantly, ISBE has postponed the deadline for submitting foster care transportation procedures to July 31, 2017. By July 31, 2017, local educational agencies must submit their foster care transportation procedures to [email protected]. ISBE developed a guidance document to assist Districts in crafting their procedures. This guidance document is also available HERE.

For any questions on the development or submission of foster care procedures, please contact Stephanie Jones or Kaitlin Atlas with questions.