Like many homeless liaisons, Barbara Bading at North East ISD (NEISD) in San Antonio has numerous professional responsibilities. Over the past four years, her role has grown from that of unofficial advocate of the homeless student population-a stopgap position meant to address the growing need for homeless services and educational support-to the officially appointed and McKinney-Vento funded district liaison. In addition to teaching, Barbara's present responsibilities include directing and administering the NEISD McKinney Project and the School-Age Parenting and Drop-Out Recovery programs, chairing numerous Advisory Councils, and-with her staff-managing various educational support functions such as day care, transportation, referrals to outside agencies, academic instruction, remediation, community advisory groups, summer school, and GED testing. Like all her efforts involving children in homeless situations, Barbara finds that ensuring safe and dependable transportation for her students brings both rewards and challenges. Her experiences, though similar to those faced by liaisons throughout the state, are nevertheless distinct to the district, to the students, and to the position Barbara holds at NEISD.

North East is unique in that the district has no homeless shelters and a scarcity of affordable housing. As a result, the majority of the homeless population (75%) endures double- and sometimes triple-family living conditions. Some stay at local campgrounds; others must live on the street. However, as dire as their circumstances might be, North East ISD recognizes the right of students experiencing homelessness to the best education available and, in accordance with No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, does everything possible to ensure it. One of the district's stellar achievements is the Student Residency Questionnaire, a form that helps them-and many other schools that have adopted it-quickly identify homeless and at-risk students. Compliance with the NCLB, while desired, is not often easy. The district has identified 433 currently enrolled students who are homeless; by May 2004, that number is expected to reach 1000. Ensuring that each student is bused from home to school and back again is in itself a formidable undertaking, one that presents daily hurdles for school, student, and parents. Although North East, like many districts, is not required to provide transportation for kindergarten students, they choose to do so because parents face more than enough obstacles to their children's education as it is. Helping parents find ways to safely transport their children to school as well as to after-school activities is a daily challenge that Barbara and her staff have learned to master. An even bigger challenge is arranging for the transportation of students experiencing homelessness to and from their schools of origin. Each day the staff faces new circumstances calling for on-the-fly decisions and last-minute arrangements. As Barbara explains it, daily negotiations are necessary between NEISD's Department of Transportation and other district schools to ensure that the residence school and the school of origin (host) agree on drop-off/pick-up points and times, to coordinate routes, and to negotiate quick solutions to transportation problems. This information is then transferred to sprawling route maps that the staff updates continuously based on communications with other schools, secretaries, routers, drivers, and parents. When buses will be crossing district lines, Barbara's staff must secure advanced permission from the parents of the homeless student being transported.

Occasionally, the only passenger on the bus is the homeless student, a statistical incongruity that challenges Barbara's desire for economy and efficiency. However, the fact remains that routes to host schools often deviate from the district's regular routes. NCLB mandates that schools must provide a homeless student daily transportation to and from his school of origin regardless of cost and disruption. The fact that no maximum distance is stipulated adds confusion to inconvenience. While the school of origin mandate can be demanding on schools, the students themselves also pay a price. Bus rides can get long and boring, and a bored child is prone to get into mischief. If a student being transported to or from the host school has her bus privileges revoked as a result, it becomes the parents' responsibility to get the child to the pick-up point so that the student can catch the other school's bus. Naturally, Barbara plays a part in helping the parents make other arrangements.

To minimize the confusion and inconvenience surrounding school-of-origin issues, Region 20 hosted a summit meeting attended by transportation personnel from all Region 20 schools. North East, San Antonio, and Northside Independent School Districts presented ideas for improving communication among the districts. NEISD's contribution was a transportation referral form that standardized the information used to transport McKinney-Vento-sponsored students between the host and residence schools. This document, now used daily in all three districts, has increased the efficiency of the schools' transportation departments while improving the service-and the peace of mind-of the affected students and parents. When faced with the myriad challenges that come with the liaison position, Barbara's response remains simple and effective: determination plus innovation equals success. For students able to remain in their school of origin due to the extraordinary efforts of Barbara and her staff, a few inconveniences are a small price to pay for an uninterrupted and secure educational experience.

For more information about North East ISD's transportation services and experiences, contact Barbara Bading by mail (8961 Tesoro Drive, Suite 412, San Antonio, TX 78217), phone (210-804-7155) or e-mail (bbading@neisd.net ).