Schools

Coming Monday in Sammamish Patch: Issaquah and Lake Washington School Districts Cope With Financial and Social Toll of Homeless Students

As school budgets get cut, districts still need to provide transportation and support for homeless students.

Norcross Editor's profile picture
Norcross Editor, Patch StaffVerified Patch Staff Badge
|

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 (Sammamish findings will be published 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.
  • 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 Sammamish-Issaquahwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

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

Edmonds Patch:

Day 1

Find out what's happening in Sammamish-Issaquahwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Day 2:

Enumclaw Patch

Day 1:

Day 2:

Kirkland Patch

Day 1:

Day 2:

Redmond Patch

Woodinville Patch:

Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Patch:

InvestigateWest, is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to the art and craft of investigative and narrative journalism.

Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Sammamish-Issaquah