Foster Care
District Foster Care Liaison
Dr. Matt Bailey, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services
314-213-6100
1099 Milwaukee St
Kirkwood, MO 63122
POLICY IGBE-1: STUDENTS IN FOSTER CARE
The district recognizes that students in foster care face unusual educational challenges. The purpose of Policy IGBE-1 is to provide foster care students with educational stability and remove barriers to, and provide opportunities for, academic excellence for foster care students. To achieve this purpose, the district will work collaboratively with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Children's Division (CD) of the Missouri Department of Social Services.
Best Interest Determination
Placement
Within three days of the student enrolling, the liaison will organize a meeting or consultation to determine which placement is in the student's best interest. The meeting or consultation will include a representative of the CD; the foster parents; a representative from the school of origin; the parents/guardians and student, if appropriate; and any other person requested by the student, the foster parents, or the CD who has a special relationship with the student. These individuals will be considered the best interest determination (BID) team and, using child-centered criteria, including the appropriateness of the current educational setting and proximity to the school in which the student is enrolled at the time, will determine the best placement for the student. Transportation costs will not be a factor. If the BID team cannot reach a consensus regarding the best placement, the representative from the CD will make the final determination.
The district of placement may bill the district of residence for local tax effort in accordance with law.
Dispute Resolution
If the legal, putative, or biological parent (parent) or educational decision maker disputes that the placement assigned by the BID team or CD is in the student's best interest, the parent or educational decision maker ("disputant") may contact the liaison to implement the dispute resolution process. The liaison will provide the disputant with a copy of the district's dispute resolution procedures and answer any questions about the resolution process.