More homeless students statewide

About one student is homeless for every classroom in Washington, according to data released by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

For the ninth year in a row, the number of homeless students in the state is on the rise, up to 40,934 students in the 2016-2017 school year, or roughly one in every 25 students. That’s up 3.2 percent from the year prior. In the last five years, the state’s seen a 33.7 percent increase.

The rate of growth in the number of homeless students in Clark County’s largest school district is more staggering.

In Evergreen Public Schools, the number of homeless students in 2016-2017 declined slightly from 2015-2016, from 1,076 to 1,042. That’s a 3.2 percent decrease. But since the 2012-2013 school year, the number of homeless students nearly doubled from 532.

The district had 26,178 total students last school year.

Homelessness is up in West Coast cities, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In Clark County, there were 749 people living in shelters, transitional housing or on the street, according to the 2017 Point in Time count, a single-day census of the homeless population. That’s up 8 percent from the year prior. The 2018 Point in Time count results will be released later this spring.

Under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, the federal law that governs how schools support homeless students, districts must cast a broader net than HUD when classifying students as homeless. The counts include students who are living in hotels, cars, couch surfing with friends or relatives, shelters or on the street. The largest increase statewide this year was in the number of unsheltered students; those living in abandoned buildings, parks or cars. In 2016-2017, there were 2,753, up 29 percent from 2,134 the year prior.

Evergreen Public Schools spokeswoman Gail Spolar said the district is working to better identify and provide resources for homeless students. The district has expanded its Family and Community Resource Centers and food pantries at middle and high schools, and is working more closely with organizations that serve homeless families.

“We have more opportunities and relationships in place,” Spolar said by email. “Those relationships help us help students and families who may not have interacted (with) us in the same manner five years ago.”

Vancouver Public Schools saw a similar trend, with the number of homeless students dropping from last year but increasing overall in the past five. Vancouver had 1,013 homeless students last year, up 20.7 percent from the 2012-2013 school year. Vancouver schools had 23,709 students districtwide last year.

Washington receives $950,000 in U.S. Department of Education funding under the McKinney-Vento Act to provide services to homeless students, including transportation, some supplies and early childhood programs. Evergreen, Vancouver, Battle Ground and Ridgefield have received McKinney-Vento grants, according to OSPI.

Washington also has the state Homeless Student Stability Program, which provided $850,000 divided among 12 school districts in the state this year to help schools support their homeless students. Evergreen Public Schools received $83,943 out of that fund, according to OSPI.

State data shows homelessness can put additional pressures on students. The four-year graduation rate for homeless students last year was 53.9 percent, compared to the statewide rate of 79.3 percent. In 2015-2016, 32.6 percent of homeless students in Washington were chronically absent, meaning they missed 18 or more full days of school during the year, compared to the total rate of 16.7 percent.

“Homelessness puts incredible strain on families,” said Chris Reykdal, Superintendent of Public Instruction, in the news release. “The students might be staying somewhere unsafe. And they may not have the time or a consistent place to study.”