"The good news is that the needs of homeless children are being better met by school districts. Therefore, there is less of a need to create a separate school for homeless children."

I'm not so sure I would agree with Mr. Elliot's analysis here. While public schools may indeed be meeting the needs of some of the homeless kids out there, I suspect that the parents of many homeless kids are simply terrified that if they place their child in a school designated as one for "homeless" kids, it will bring scrutiny and a visit from local law enforcement and CPS workers.

I could be wrong, wouldn't be the first time and certainly won't be the last....



Longtime private school for homeless children shuts its doors - San Jose Mercury News

Longtime private school for homeless children shuts its doors
J.M. BROWN - SENTINEL STAFF WRITER
Article Launched: 07/12/2008 01:31:02 AM PDT

SOQUEL -- The county's only private school designed solely to serve homeless students has closed due to shrinking enrollment and funding, officials said Friday.

New Horizons School, a Soquel nonprofit founded 14 years ago by retired teacher Carole Drewes, shut its doors in late May and will not reopen this fall, board members said.

The school had once served three dozen students at a time, but admission steadily dropped to just four or five in recent years after public schools strengthened efforts to identify and enroll homeless and transition students, of which there are an estimated 3,000, according to a recent county survey.

"It was a very difficult decision," said board member Russ Elliot from O'Neill Inc. "The good news is that the needs of homeless children are being better met by school districts. Therefore, there is less of a need to create a separate school for homeless children."

Still, as late as this spring, the school's executive director, Ruth Landmann, was trying to keep the school afloat. In an open letter to the community, which was published by the Sentinel in March, Landmann wrote, "There are families whose children have not been enrolled in local public schools when they became homeless or became very mobile after losing permanent housing. These children could easily fall between the cracks and not attend school because of lack of permanent housing."

But
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with fewer students every year, Elliot said the school, which was at 4951 Soquel Drive in Soquel Village, had a difficult time garnering grants and other community donations to fund its annual $250,000 budget. The school received no government funding, and relied only on private and corporate donations.

Before the board decided to fold the operation -- which provided students with classroom instruction, transportation to school, daily meals and medical assistance -- Elliot said Landmann met with numerous social service agencies to ensure there weren't other problems the school could help address. The school had long drawn its enrollment from referrals made through homeless shelters and other service providers.

"It was really determined through her thorough work that most of the needs were being met," Elliot said.

Ken Cole, executive director of the Homeless Services Center in Santa Cruz, described the closure as bittersweet.

"The program was excellent -- many of our families took advantage of it," said Cole, who operates the Rebele Family Shelter for families in transition. "But we were very supportive of their decision to close. It was one of those nonprofits where the demand for services wasn't sufficient. They handled a very painful situation well."

By law, New Horizons has donated its assets to other nonprofits. Besides Landmann, the school's staff included two credentialed teachers who worked part time.

Jo Ann Allen, student support services coordinator for the county Office of Education, applauded the school's work, saying that, when it opened, it "was giving families in a sense of chaos some stability." But, she said, "It had served its purpose."

After the federal government toughened accountability standards for public schools to serve homeless students in 2001, Allen's office worked with local schools to change enrollment practices that turned away students whose families couldn't provide a permanent home address within the school's boundaries.

Each school now has a no-questions-asked policy about admitting homeless or transition students. An appointed liaison for homeless families at each school site also works with students' families or caregivers to arrange transportation, after-school care, food service and other needs.

"Schools aren't doing this now because it's the law," Allen said. "They know it's the right thing to do for kids."

The founder of New Horizon, Carol Drewes, a retired teacher who died in September 1997 after a bout with breast cancer, privately raised the funds for books and supplies. She learned only two months after its opening in 1994 that she was ill, but friends helped her carry on her dream of educating children who had fallen through the cracks of the educational system.

"It's important for kids to know they are of worth and value," Drewes told the Sentinel in a July 1996 article. "Here we actually walk the talk."
Contact J.M. Brown at 429-2410 or jbrown@santacruzsentinel.com.