But the decrease, representing more than 288,000 students, likely includes many kids whose homelessness was unknown to schools. The number of children identified as homeless by schools nationwide dropped by 21% from the 2018-2019 school year to the 2020-2021 school year, according to federal data. Many education leaders, Duffield said, don’t even know about federal money earmarked for homeless students - and the programs expire next year. “There is urgency because of the losses that have occurred over the pandemic - loss in learning, the gaps in attendance and the health crisis,” she said. Schools are offering tutoring and counseling but now have limited time to spend federal pandemic relief money for homeless students, said Barbara Duffield, executive director of SchoolHouse Connection, a national homelessness organization. As students nationwide have struggled to make up for missed learning, educators have lost critical time identifying who needs the most help. Not being identified as homeless meant students lost out on eligibility for crucial support such as transportation, free uniforms, laundry services and other help. Homeless students often fell through the cracks during the tumult of the pandemic, when many schools struggled to keep track of families with unstable housing. Zoom school was especially difficult for Aaliyah because she was homeless - and like thousands of students nationally, her school didn’t know. Teachers complained she was not looking at the screen and took too many breaks. Unfamiliar with a computer, Aaliyah was regularly kicked out of the virtual classroom, her mother said. The family’s struggles coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic that forced Aaliyah to begin her school experience online. “I just didn’t know what letters were which,” says Aaliyah, now 9. “She would sing the song in order, but as soon as I mixed them up, she had no idea.” I would point them out and she didn’t know,” Bridget Ibarra said. “She was in second grade and couldn’t tell me any of the letters. As she was about to start a new school, her mother, Bridget Ibarra, saw how much it was affecting her education.Īt 8 years old, her daughter did not know the alphabet. PHOENIX (AP) - By the time Aaliyah Ibarra started second grade, her family had moved five times in four years in search of stable housing.
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