Politics & Government

In Case You Missed It: Getting Homeless Students to Class Saps Edmonds School District Budget

The number of homeless students is up nearly 78 percent from four years ago, an InvestigateWest and Patch project revealed.

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A team of InvestigateWest reporters and researchers collaborating with Patch local editors spent the last several months looking at how Washington is grappling with a growing population of homeless students -- even as budget cuts further slash their ability to meet their federal obligation to help those students.

Among the findings in Edmonds and statewide published this week: 

  • In the 2009-2010 school year, schools reported 21,826 homeless students statewide, up 30 percent from the 2006-07 school year.
  • Within school districts with the highest number of homeless students, districts saw increases in the number of students without regular homes ranging from 3 percent to 104 percent.
  • In Edmonds, both the Edmonds School District and the struggle to find a way to cope with the additional cost of homeless students. For the full stories go and .
  • Under the federal McKinney-Vento Act, school districts are required to identify and report homeless students and to guarantee those students transportation so they can stay at their original schools even if they have been forced to find emergency shelter outside the district. The cost to the districts to meet this mandate is heavy.
  • A small 2006 pilot study by the Washington State Department of Transportation found that while homeless kids typically had lower grades and Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) scores than non-homeless students, the grades and scores were better among those homeless students who got to stay in their original schools.

 Related materials:

Find out what's happening in Edmondsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

  • Interactive Map – Click on your individual county and your school for more detailed information.
  • For more coverage on other Patch sites look here:

 Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Patch:

Kirkland Patch

Find out what's happening in Edmondsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Redmond Patch

 Woodinville Patch:

Enumclaw Patch

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