Latest news with #McKinneyVentoAct
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
1,000+ students in Round Rock ISD considered homeless, numbers keep rising
ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — The number of students experiencing homelessness across the state of Texas has continued to rise over the last few years. According to TEA data, during the 2021 to 2022 school year, there were more than 97,000 students experiencing homelessness in public schools in Texas. If you jump ahead to the 2023 to 2024 school year, the number jumped to more than 121,000 students experiencing homelessness. The McKinney-Vento Act was enacted to assist vulnerable students. It's a federal law ensuring homeless children and youth have the same access to education as their housed peers. 'This is the most amazing little portable in the entire district,' said Anne Grieshop, Round Rock ISD's Families in Transition Coordinator. Inside the portable, there are many resources for students and families who are experiencing homelessness. 'We monitor attendance, student progress, we have academic specialists who work one-on-one with the kids, and we couple that with basic needs resources,' said Grieshop. According to RRISD, during the 2024 to 2025 school year, the district had more than 1,060 students who were experiencing homelessness. A breakdown by grade showed that the most students experiencing homelessness were in elementary school, with 562 students. There were 202 middle school students experiencing homelessness and 296 high school students. Carmin Spells said she is thankful for the Families in Transition program, which she said has helped her during difficult times. 'We had to go into a place like a shelter,' said Spells. People experiencing homelessness graduate from ACC job certification program As a single mother raising two children, she said it hasn't been easy on her, but she has made it a priority to make sure her children are getting the best education. 'Just supporting in small things like this, I didn't have to overthink and say, 'Oh, what are my kids going to wear or what are my kids going to eat?'' Spells said. 'Even through this experience, they are going to grow and they are going to come out strong.' The portable is filled with food, drinks, clothing, school supplies and even a washer and dryer. 'You are not going to learn in school if you are hungry, and you are not going to learn in school if you don't have tennis shoes on your feet or if they are too small and they are falling off,' said Grieshop. Mckinney Vento doesn't just classify living on the street unsheltered as homeless–it can also be people living in shelters, a hotel or motel, or families doubling up with multiple people living in an apartment. Out of the more than 1,060 students experiencing homelessness in Round Rock ISD, some of them are considered unaccompanied. 'About 120 of those are kids who are unaccompanied, which means not only are they experiencing homelessness, they also don't have a parent or guardian looking over them.' Isaac Castro is one of the success stories coming out of the program. He was considered unaccompanied since he moved from Honduras. 'It is a hard process, especially if you don't know the language, especially if you don't have a car, especially if you don't have someone to support you,' said Castro. He said he was working 40 hours a week, going to school, and trying to learn English, and there were a few times he almost gave up on school. With support and encouragement from Grieshop, though, he graduated and goes to Austin Community College. Homelessness spending likely to be focal point of Austin budget conversations 'My plan for my life is to be a lawyer, to be doing something good for other people,' said Castro. What can be done to help? While there is support for these families and students, Grieshop said more can be done to help the students succeed. 'Keep funding our programs,' said Grieshop. She hopes to see more support in the future from state lawmakers. 'These students are undeserved and desperately need our help and support, and we have the ability to do it,' said Rep. James Talarico, who is a former teacher. The struggles these families and students face are ones he is familiar with. 'I was born to a single mom who fled domestic abuse to protect me,' said Talarico. 'When she made the decision to leave, we didn't have a place to stay. She was working at a hotel here in Austin, and she begged the manager to let us stay in one of the hotel rooms.' Talarico said some of the state's surplus could go to these students and the programs that support them. 'These students have strengths that if we can tap into those strengths and give them the support they need, they are going to be more successful than we can imagine,' said Talarico. Moving forward, he said, awareness about the issues can help in a big way. 'Without journalists doing this work, most of the community won't know this is an issu,e and then elected officials don't respond to it,' said Talarico. 'So, I appreciate all the work you are doing to shine a light on this.' Families in Transition is always looking for volunteers and donations. To donate, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
How many students are homeless in Austin ISD?
AUSTIN (KXAN) – With more than 70,000 students, Austin Independent School District is the largest school district in Central Texas. About 1,000 of those students are experiencing homelessness, according to AISD data. KXAN requested data about students in AISD experiencing homelessness from 2019 to 2025 back in December. At that time there were 1,368 students who were experiencing homelessness in the district. The number of students can rise and fall through the year, as this population does move from time-to-time, and it can happen unexpectedly. Since 2019, the numbers of students experiencing homelessness has increased and decreased from year-to-year, but overall the numbers have remained above 1,200 students. The McKinney-Vento Act is a federal law that ensures homeless children and youth have access to public education just like their housed peers. 1,000+ students in Round Rock ISD considered homeless, numbers keep rising Districts around the state keep track of these at-risk kids and also keep tabs on where they are staying. According to the McKinney-Vento Act, students are considered homeless if they are unsheltered, living in a motel or hotel, living in a shelter or transitional housing, or if they are doubled up with other families in an apartment or home. In 2025, AISD had about 35 students who were unsheltered, about 280 students were living in shelters or transitional housing, about 70 students were living in motels or hotels and more than 970 students were doubling up — which is where multiple families are living under one room. There are many students across the state that go unidentified, though, some have no idea that there is help available. 'All this comes down to strong relationships between educators and students, and making sure we know where, one, where all our kids are coming from; and, two, they have to feel comfortable opening up when there is some kind of difficulty in their home life.' A closer look at the data shows the majority of the schools with high numbers of students experiencing homelessness are in north, east and south Austin. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion: Congress Needs to Protect Resources for Homeless Students in Next Year's Budget
As more Americans struggle to find affordable housing, homelessness is increasingly a reality for families with children across our country. This is why it's particularly concerning to see that the president's 2026 budget proposal not only cuts funding for public schools by 15% but would effectively remove existing support for children experiencing homelessness. When Congress takes up the fiscal year 2026 budget, leaders should maintain dedicated funding to support these vulnerable children. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Roughly 1.4 million children in schools across the U.S. are homeless. These children currently have legal protections that remove barriers to enrollment and attendance. This has been the case since the signing of the federal McKinney-Vento Act by then-President Ronald Reagan in 1987. The law recognizes the challenges faced by children who lack a 'fixed, stable, and adequate nighttime residence' and protects children's right to enroll in and remain in school when their lack of stable housing might otherwise make this impossible. Along with legal protections, the law authorizes federal funding that helps schools identify and support children experiencing homelessness. These funds are used most frequently to provide transportation and school supplies to students and hire outreach staff who work with community agencies and train school personnel on how to connect children and families with needed services at their school and in the community. Related Since the enactment of the McKinney-Vento Act, a growing body of research has demonstrated why the protections are needed. My research shows children experiencing homelessness are more likely to be chronically absent from school and less likely to graduate high school, compared to the entire student body, as well as economically disadvantaged students. Teens experiencing homelessness also face significantly greater risks to their health and well-being, with a risk of attempted suicide more than four times greater than their high school peers. While annual funding designated for helping schools serve students without stable housing makes up less than 1% of past years' federal education budget at roughly $129 million annually, these funds have a substantial impact. In an evaluation of American Rescue Plan funding targeted to improve identification and services for homeless students (ARP-HCY), school districts that received additional funding saw a 25% increase in the identification of students experiencing homelessness, as well as reduced rates of chronic absenteeism, improvements in reading, science and math, and increased graduation rates among homeless students. Additionally, in a separate study of New York State schools that I worked on at Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan in partnership with SchoolHouse Connection, school personnel reported that school districts that had previously had little awareness of the impact of homelessness on children in their schools were better able to identify and serve students as a result of receiving dedicated funding. Related The president's 2026 budget proposal will gut the McKinney-Vento Act and leave children who are homeless without the vital support of their schools. The proposal rolls 18 programs –- including McKinney-Vento funding for homeless students –- into a single flexible state block grant, and it cuts the collective funding for those programs from $6.5 billion to $2 billion. Proponents argue that the block grant approach does not eliminate funding for homeless students and simply provides states more flexibility in how they spend their education dollars. However, previous state block grants tell a different story. When funding for an established program is transferred to unrestricted block grants, grants often do not continue to be used for their original purpose. The best example of this is the replacement of federal cash assistance with the block grant for states known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Since the TANF block grant was put in place, the total amount of cash assistance provided to families fell by 78% in real value from 1993 to 2016. This decline did not coincide with a decrease in need; instead it was driven by fewer needy families receiving assistance. The most recent fiscal data available shows that as of FY 2023 only one-quarter of TANF spending nationally went to basic assistance, with some states spending as little as 2%. By cutting the overall budget for the 18 federal education programs covered in the proposed state block grant by 70%, states will be in a position of scarcity trying to cover program needs that cannot all be met. We saw this during the pandemic when only 18% of school homelessness liaisons surveyed said their districts spent federal coronavirus relief education funding on services for homeless students –- despite that being an allowable use of the funds. Without the backing of a federal requirement that homeless students be identified and served by schools and a corresponding budget allocation, funding for students who are homeless will be eaten away by other programs in many states, and legal protections will disappear. There is still time to ensure that the final education budget does not strip away the educational rights of students experiencing homelessness. Congress should not include the McKinney-Vento program in any block grant, but rather keep it in its current form, as the budget proposal does for both Title I programs that serve students in high-poverty areas and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act programs. By preserving the McKinney-Vento program, we can ensure that being homeless as a child does not determine the course of that child's education or future. Solve the daily Crossword
