Keystone Oaks School District

A SAP team made up of school and agency staff is available to help families access school and community services for your child. In Pennsylvania, every school district is required to have a plan for identifying and assisting students who experience barriers to learning. Our school's Student Assistance Program team consists of many dedicated professionals including teachers, counselors, specialists and principals.
 
The SAP team will help families find services and assistance within the school and, if needed, in the community. The SAP team doe snot diagnose, treat or refer children for treatment. The team provides families with information to make the choice(s) that best fit their needs and wishes. Parents/guardians are an important part of the team. 

Warning Signs
A student may be eligible for the Student Assistance Program if he/she is exhibiting any of the following behaviors:

• Withdrawing from family, friends and/or activities
• Changing friends
• Unexplained physical injuries
• Feeling sad
• Talking about suicide
• Defying authority, both at home and school
• Acting aggressively
• Hitting
• Lying
• Needing money without a good explanation
• Declining grades
• Experimenting with alcohol or drugs

Additional concerns could include reactions to:

• Recent death of a loved one
• Divorce of parents
• Family relocation
• A relationship problem
• Bullying
• Other traumatic event 

Becoming Involved in the SAP Program
Anyone can refer a child to the SAP team. Some students are referred by teachers or other school personnel. A friend or family member can also let the SAP team know that they are worried about someone. The child can even go directly to his/her guidance counselor to ask for help. 
 
Schools will gather information to determine how a student is doing in their classes. However, the SAP team will not proceed unless a parent or legal guardian gives written permission. Once permission is received, the SAP team will work with parents/guardians to develop a plan of action to help the child achieve success in school. Participation in the program is voluntary.  

Referrals to the Student Assistance Program
A SAP team member will contact the parent/guardian regarding the child's referral to the program. Before a SAP team member talks to the child, the parent/guardian will be asked to sign a permission form. The SAP team will work with the parent/guardian and the child throughout the process. The knowledge and thoughts of parents/guardians will be helpful in developing a plan of action. 
 
If you need more information before making a decision about SAP, please feel free to talk to your child's guidance counselor or other team member. 

Privacy
​​​​​​​The SAP team information is completely confidential and the team will respect the privacy of children and families at all times.  

In 1987, Congress passed the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to aid homeless persons. The Act defines the term "homeless children and youths" as individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. The Act explicitly includes within the definition of "homeless children and youths" those who are "awaiting foster care placement."

The categories of children who are defined as "homeless" and who are entitled to the protections under the McKinney-Vento Assistance Act are as follows:

• Children and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement.
   
• Children and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings; children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings.
   
• “Migratory children” who qualify as homeless under federal law because the children are living in circumstances described in clauses (i) through (iii) above. The term "migratory children" means children who are (or whose parent(s) or spouse(s) are) migratory agricultural workers, including migratory dairy workers, or migratory fishermen, and who have moved from one school district to another in the preceding 36 months, in order to obtain (or accompany such parents or spouses in order to obtain) temporary or seasonal employment in agricultural or fishing work.
   
• Children and youths "awaiting foster care placement," including those who live in shelters or are placed in emergency, interim or respite foster care; kinship care; evaluation or diagnostic centers or placements for the sole purpose of evaluation. Local school officials should consult with their county children and youth agencies whenever necessary to determine if a case-by-case basis, whether a child who does not clearly fall into one of these categories is nevertheless a child "awaiting foster care placement."
   
• "Unaccompanied homeless youth" including any child who is "not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian." This includes youth who have run away from home, been thrown out of their home, been abandoned by parents or guardians, or separated from their parents for any other reason.

Under the Pennsylvania Education for Homeless Children and Youth State Plan, homeless children are defined as:

• Children living with a parent in a domestic violence shelter;
   
• Runaway children and children and youth who have been abandoned or forced out of their home by parents or other caretakers; 
   
• And school-aged parents living in houses for school-aged parents if they have no other available living accommodations.

The McKinney-Vento Act states that it is the policy of Congress that state educational agencies shall ensure that each child of a homeless individual and each homeless youth has equal access to the same free, appropriate public education, including a public preschool education, as provided to other children and youths. 42 USCA § 11431. Specifically, 42 USCA § 11432(g)(3)(A) indicates that the local educational agency shall according to the child’s best interest:

• Continue the child's or youth's education in the school of origin for the duration of homelessness in any case in which a family becomes homeless between academic years or during an academic year; or for the remainder of the academic year, if the child or youth becomes permanently housed during an academic year.
   
• Or enroll the child or youth in any public school that non-homeless students who live in the attendance area in which the child or youth is actually living are eligible to attend.

The Federal mandage is to ensure that homeless children and youth have access to free appropriate public education on an equal basis with other children. Children who are homeless, including those living with others, may qualify for assistance with school lunch, with school supplies/materials, with tutoring,and with transportation so that they can remain in their school of origin.

For students with 504 plans, as part of the protections available to parents/guardians, if the District and the parent/guardian cannot agree as to what related aids, services or accommodations should or should no longer be provided to our child, the procedural safeguard system may be used to resolve the dispute. 
 
Please see this PDF for details on the avenues available for use. 

Please visit the Health & School Nurse Department’s webpage for information regarding physical and dental exams, immunization requirements, sick child guidelines, health forms, and contact information for Keystone Oaks’ school nurses. 

Keystone Oaks’ Student Services Department oversees new student registration. To register your child, please visit the New Student Registration page on the district’s website.