Can a family or student provide a PO Box address as an address in order to enroll an otherwise eligible child or youth?
If the student is determined to be “homeless” under the federal criteria established in the McKinney-Vento Act (NCLB Title X), then a PO Box is sufficient as an address. Homeless shelters, particularly domestic violence shelters, often provide a PO Box for individuals and families to use while they are homeless. Under ORS 339.115(7), an otherwise eligible child or youth cannot be denied enrollment by a public school or district solely because the student does not have a “fixed place of residence.” This adheres to McKinney-Vento Act rights, as above. A PO Box does not establish “proof of residence.” An illustrative case is one in which a family claimed residence in a different district from where they physically reside, in order to enroll a student in a particular school so the youth could participate on the school’s sports team. The claim was denied; further, the student could not be enrolled in this school on an inter-district transfer and still participate on the sports team, accordi
