Committee recommends renaming district’s Homeless Education Department to reference McKinney‑Vento

Speaker 4, reporting for a renaming committee, told the board that the group considered community sensitivity, comparative research and federal alignment and recommended the name “McKinney Vento MVP pathway to promise” for the Clayton County Homeless Education Department. “The recommendation was McKinney Vento program MVP pathway to promise,” Speaker 4 said, explaining the intent to reflect the McKinney‑Vento Act’s protections for children and youth experiencing homelessness.

Speaker 4 read the committee’s timeline of meetings and said the committee included Brenda Harrison, Crystal Perry, Dr. April Crawford, a student representative and Sonia Davis. The committee met in person on June 3, convened with communications staff on August 1 to craft a public announcement and completed a committee review and final selection on August 12.

To justify the change, Speaker 4 summarized the federal definition of homelessness under the McKinney‑Vento framework—lack of a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, including doubled‑up arrangements, motels, shelters, cars and similar settings—and said a new name should reduce stigma and highlight pathways to stability. “When our children are experiencing homelessness they are experiencing 3 to 6 months of learning loss,” Speaker 4 said, citing educational impacts and the rationale for emphasizing dignity and support.

Speaker 4 said the committee will recommend the new name for board consideration; in the excerpted transcript there was no recorded board vote or formal adoption. Board members asked procedural questions and requested to view a brief video of committee and community work; staff said they had prepared highlights to share.