Worcester Claims 2,565 Students “Homeless”
Saturday, March 24, 2012
With 2,565 students labeled homeless, Worcester leads the state, outpacing Boston, which is three times its size, as well as considerably poorer cities like Springfield, according to stats filed with the Massachusetts Department of Education.
However, claims by school officials that 10 percent of the city’s students are homeless come as Worcester and other cities across the state reap hundreds of thousands of federal dollars meant to help with the problem.
And Worcester and other cities are now lobbying for millions in additional state aid to cover the cost of busing these students.
Some contend the numbers just don’t add up.
“It appears they have new math they are teaching in the school district based on these numbers,” said Chris Pinto, vice chair of the Worcester City Republican Committee and the parent of three students in city schools. “I am concerned these people are teaching our children mathematics.”
Superintendent's response
Firing back against critics, Melinda Boone, superintendent of Worcester Public Schools, argues the numbers simply reflect reality in the city.
While she acknowledged some students “may be living with grandparents and several are couch surfing,” she adamantly denied any over counting.
"Absolutely not,” Boone said. “There’s a specific definition from the federal government. We don’t declare families homeless. The families declare they are homeless to the school system. The federal government doesn't give us lots of extra money for each homeless student. There are small dollars that come in, mostly for transporting costs."
Worcester has more homeless students than Boston
Still, Worcester’s claim to have 2,565 homeless students is far and above what other school districts are reporting.
Boston was distant second, tallying 1,413 homeless students, according to state figures.
Worcester also dwarfs smaller, hard hit cities Western Massachusetts cities like Springfield, Holyoke and Lawrence, which have reported, 1,027, 617 and 336 homeless students respectively.
Yet Worcester is doing much better economically than its western counterparts, stats show.
Worcester’s unemployment rate was 7.7 percent at year end, compared to 12.5 percent for Springfield. The average sale price of a home in Worcester is $151,000, compared to just $92,000 in Springfield, according to The Warren Group, the Boston-based real estate publisher and data firm.
The eye-popping homeless student numbers come after a rejiggering of how the government counts the homeless.
'Homeless' doesn't mean they don't have a roof over their head
Federal officials back in 2009 expanded the definition of homeless students beyond those living in shelters.
And many of the students classified as homeless have a roof over their heads, it may just be a grandparents, uncle or some other relative or friend.
“I don’t believe the numbers,” Pinto said. “I don’t think most kids who live with a grandparent consider themselves homeless.”
More than half the students Worcester contends are homeless – 1,307 – are reported to be “doubled up” and living with relatives or friends. That’s compared to 514 who are living in shelters.
Boston, for examples, counts just 338 students as doubling up.
Worcester’s huge population of homeless students has helped the city tap into $180,000 over in federal funding over the past three years for everything for additional school programs. The city has ranked at top in terms pulling down government grant money designed to help homeless students, state education department numbers show.
Now Worcester and several other cities are hoping state lawmakers will pick up the tab for more than $10 million in transportation costs they contend are a result of having to bus homeless students to the schools they originally hailed from. Worcester school officials say they are spending $561,000 busing homeless students each year, second only to Boston, which reports spending more than $574,000.
Money from the Federal government
Worcester also gets more than $10 million a year in federal funding for school districts with high concentrations of needy, low-income students, though whether students are homeless is not part of the formula used to award the money, Teri Valentine, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Department of Education, says she sees nothing amiss.
Despite the big gap between Worcester’s tally of homeless students and that of other cities, state educations officials see nothing amiss with Worcester’s exceedingly high count of homeless students.
Far from being questioned, Worcester school officials should be commended for scrupulously counting the number homeless students.
“We think they have been doing a good job identifying kids who have really needed the services,” Valentine said. “They are not seen as particular outliers in terms of a disproportionate population.”
But Chip Faulkner, associate director of Citizens for Limited Taxation, contends there may be other reasons for Worcester’s claims to the state’s homeless student capitol.
“It wouldn’t be the first time a public school system fudged numbers,” Faulkner said. “They do it all the time for more local aid.”
Said Faulkner: “If I were the state, I would have the auditors check their numbers.”
Related Articles
- Central MA’s Top High Schools 2012: How We Got the Rankings
- MA’s Top High Schools 2012: The Breakdown of 1 to 392 Individual Scores
- MA’s Top High Schools 2012: The Complete List of 1 to 392
- MA’s Top High Schools 2012: The Link Between Schools and Home Values
- RI Favorites - Top High Schools
- The Top High Schools in Massachusetts 2012: An Overview of the Study
- 122 Children at Sullivan Middle School are Homeless
- John Monfredo: Help Needed to Address Homeless in Our Schools
Follow us on Pinterest Google + Facebook Twitter See It Read It