Migrant Education Programs

Contact

Stefany Garcia
Homeless Coordinator
Send Stefany Garcia an Email
(413) 512-5308

Alessandra Graziani
Director of Special Education Compliance
Send Alessandra Graziani an Email
(413) 224-8411

The goal of Migrant Education Programs is to ensure that students who qualify for the support receive it.

Students or students’ parents(s)/guardian(s) who are migratory agricultural workers, fishers, or food/fish processors, are under 21, have not completed high school, and have moved across district lines within the preceding 36 months.

Definition

To qualify for the Migrant Education Program, a migrant child must have moved within the past three years across state or school district lines with a migrant parent or guardian to enable the child, the child’s guardian or a member of the child’s immediate family to obtain temporary or seasonal employment in an agricultural, fishing, or food processing activity.  The Child may be in any grade between preschool and 12th grade and must not be older than 21 years of age.

Migrant children can be either interstate or intrastate.  An interstate migrant child is a child who has moved within the past 3 years from one state to another with their family to find qualifying work.  An intrastate migrant child is a child who has moved within the past 3 years to another school district, but from within the same state. 

  1. Child or child’s parent(s)/Guardian(s) are a migratory agricultural worker, migratory fisher, or migratory food/fish processor who moved within the preceding 36 months 

    1. Migratory Agricultural Workers/Fishers are individuals who made a qualifying move due to economic necessity in the past 36 months and engaged in temporary or seasonal employment in agricultural or fishing work. 

    2. Individuals may still be considered migratory agricultural workers/fisher if the individual actively sought such work and has a recent history (within the past 3 years) of moves for this type of work. 

  2. The child is under 21 years of age 

  3. Has not graduated from high school or received high school equivalency 

  4. Moved across school district lines (Sometimes with, or joining a parent, spouse, guardian, or caregiver who is the worker) 

  5. Migrant students 

Enrollment and Access 

Migrant students have the right to 

  1. Enroll in local public schools; 

  2. Fully participate in all school activities; 

  3. Access any services they are eligible for; and 

  4. Participate in services and programming offered by public schools and/or the MMEP. 

  5. Many migrant students may also be homeless and have educational rights under McKinney-Vento

MMEP (Massachusetts Migrant Education Program MMEP) 

MMEP is responsible for: 

  1. Identification of migrant students 

  2. Identification of migrant students who may also be homeless 

  3. Student enrollment 

  4. Family and parent engagement 

  5. Engaging and supporting pre-K to 12 migrant students

  6. Engaging and supporting out-of-school youth 

  7. Access to local resources including food, legal aid, and social services

  8. Interstate student academic record keeping is referred to as MSIX

  9. Reporting migrant data to DESE for federal purposes 

Assistance to Identification 

Currently, there are two forms utilized to assist the MMEP with the identification of migratory families and students. 

  1. The Migrant Screener 

    1. Two versions available 

      1. School District 

      2. Agencies 

The Migrant Screener is adapted for use with different community resources that collaborate with the MMEP to follow up for eligibility. 

  1. School districts who have forms available at enrollment 

  2. Agencies collect the forms and share them with the MMEP 

  3. Employers who collect and share the forms with the MMEP 

  4. Forms are translated into needed languages 

The Migrant McKinney Vento Verification Form is used by MMEP staff to verify that a Migrant family or student is also eligible for the classification of homeless.

  1. Because MMEP staff may visit the “homes” of migrant students, they are best able to verify the McKinney Vento status and thus use a form to confirm homelessness. 

  2. When MMEP staff verify McKinney Vento Status, they share this form with the school district to inform the district and ensure the rights of the identified homeless student and their needs 

  3. Migrant families or students could be considered homeless because of doubled-up situations.