The Campbell County Board of Education passed a motion to reapply for a grant to help students in the district experiencing homelessness.
Anytime the district applies for a grant requiring a position to be created, even if that position is paid for entirely out of the grant, it must bring that to the board. The McKinney-Vento law is the primary piece of federal legislation that provides rights and services to children and youth experiencing homelessness. This grant is for approximately $360,000 over three years.
The purpose of the grant is to provide immediate enrollment for children and youth experiencing homelessness who are not already enrolled in the district, to provide support for them, and to provide school choice opportunities, which include transportation to the student’s school of origin if needed.
“We have received this grant, and in fact, we currently have this grant, but all the funding for this position is through the grant,” Campbell County Superintendent Shelli Wilson said. “So, we are asking to reapply for that.”
There are roughly 350 students currently experiencing homelessness in the district.
Just under 2,500 students were identified as experiencing homelessness during the 2021-2022 school year across nine NKY Metro school districts, according to data from the Kentucky Department of Education. Those districts, which are part of the Northern Kentucky Homeless Education Collaborative, are: Covington Independent, Campbell County Schools, Kenton County Schools, Boone County Schools, Southgate Independent, Newport Independent, Dayton Independent, Bellevue Independent, and Erlanger/Elsmere Independent.
Just under 2,500 students were identified as experiencing homelessness across nine NKY school districts in 2021-2022.
The grant also provides opportunities for parent involvement in enrollment decisions. It ensures that the district’s students experiencing homelessness have equal access to the same free public education, including public preschool education provided to other children.
“It ensures that our homeless students are provided services in such a way that they are not isolated or stigmatized; it promotes schools’ GED success for completion of our homeless students and supports collaboration between the schools,” Wilson said.
