Schools

Coming Monday In University Place Patch: School District Copes With Financial And Social Toll Of Homeless Students

University Place and other school districts grapple with educating homeless students, even as budgets get tighter across the board.

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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 statewide and in University Place published coming Monday: 

  • 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 University Place, the district has seen its homeless student population triple, but much of the jump represents students from outside of the district. The district's total homeless student population is still a fraction of neighboring districts like Tacoma and Lakewood. Look for more Monday.
  • 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.

 

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