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(Image: Lowell Elementary PALS PTA)
“How do you deal with these children coming in with such highly traumatic home lives?”
20%. The problems behind Lowell Elementary’s disproportionate enrollment of homeless students are larger than just one school. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction shows 3,498 students as homeless in the district.
“That is not an SPS problem, that is a foundational problem,” Seattle Public Schools (SPS) spokesperson Kim Schmanke said. “A lot of the things we’re doing would be supportive of homeless students but are not solely targeted because we are not a social or counseling center for students.”
The district’s resources are stretched too thin.
Take it from Nick Hodges, the co-president of the Parent-Teacher Association at Lowell Elementary who just recently recovered from homelessness along with his wife and two kids who attend Lowell.
“The biggest problem has always been the structure of getting help in our school,” Hodges said. “How do you deal with these children coming in with such highly traumatic home lives? How can you bring them into a situation that’s going to be stable for them six to seven hours in a day, and make them feel comfortable and safe with the proper resources and send them back to a shelter secure and feeling better about themselves?” Continue reading →