Unfortunately District officials report there are already more than 350 homeless students enrolled for the coming year with more expected to appear in the next month. "We've seen an increase in our homeless numbers," said Assistant Superintendent for Education Services Shelley Nacke. "The economy is where we're seeing a lot of the increase. People lose their jobs or lose their homes," she said.
The District conducts the "Stuff the Bus" drive each year because it's a good thing to do but also because there's a law that, in effect, says it has to, according to Assistant Superintendent for High School Learning and Teaching Ben Churchill. "The (federal) McKinney Vento Act requires school districts to provide a free and appropriate education for homeless students," he said. "That includes lunch and school supplies and everything," Churchill said. "We get some money (from the federal government) but it doesn't cover everything."
In the pic: (above) Algonquin shopper Katherine Shafer donated some just-bought "Stuff the Bus" school supplies Saturday to Lakewood Elementary Assistant Principal Kris Sainsbury. (below) Six year-old Quinn Churchill (foreground) and her two year-old sister, Violet, (feet) helped Dad Ben Churchill stuff more than a ton of donated school supply backpacks into a D300 schoolbus.
2 comments:
Can I assume that many of the highly paid teachers donated to this. Yeah right.
In fact, Churchill mentioned quite a few teachers contributed to "Stuff the Bus". Teachers and administrators conduct the event on their own time, too.--ed.
Post a Comment