The Warren County R-III School Board approved a special provision for the transportation department during its Aug. 10 meeting that fulfills students’ needs under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.The board voted to allow Director of Transportation Kevin Pirrung to use a district vehicle under certain conditions. The approved uses are to pick up or drop off students in crisis, students who miss the bus, as well as checking roads during severe weather.“There are many evenings or early mornings that he picks up homeless students or those who have missed the bus,” said Assistant Superintendent Dr. Aaron Jones. “Additionally, during the bad weather months he is on the road at 3 a.m.”One reason for this use would be to meet the standards under the McKinney-Vento Act, which obligates a district to provide transportation for students who are considered homeless but are enrolled in the district and living outside of it with friends or family members.Some of those students come from the direction in which Pirrung travels to Warren County on school days.“We have contacted MUSIC (Missouri United School Insurance Council) and our insurance would cover this,” said Jones. “This would not be every day, but we would like to have the flexibility to allow this as needed.”About 3 percent of the district’s 3,168 students qualify under the McKinney-Vento Act.The act, reauthorized in January 2002 as Title X, Part C, of the No Child Left Behind Act, is the primary part of federal legislation pertaining to the education of children and youth in homeless situations. Its key areas of focus are school access and stability, support for educational success and child-centered decision-making.Warren County R-III School District