Fewer homeless students reported in Oregon for first time in 5 years

Benson High School

Students wrap a day of classes at Benson High School in Northeast Portland on Wednesday, September 11, 2013.LC- The Oregonian

Oregon saw its first drop in the number of homeless students since 2012, according to data released Thursday.

There were nearly 3.5 percent fewer homeless students throughout Oregon during the 2017-18 school year than in 2016-17. However, the number is still high at 21,756 -- and the problem is starting to increase in rural areas that used to have far fewer students without permanent homes.

Last year, Oregon’s population of students experiencing homelessness hit an all-time high. Officials attributed part of that to new reporting standards, but also to the fact that families with children struggled more than ever to find affordable housing. Oregon’s homeless population overall has steadily increased with no end in sight.

Beaverton School District continues to have an increase in the number of students with unstable housing. More than 4 percent of the district’s enrollment is homeless -- an increase of more than 200 students over last year and a continuation of a several-years-long trend.

Medford serves 1,164 homeless students, and Portland comes in third with 1,142. Portland’s numbers show a sharp decline from the past two years, which had reported hundreds more homeless students.

While Multnomah and Washington counties still had the highest number of homeless students in the state, Oregon Department of Education officials attribute the decrease in some urban centers to families leaving the district in search of affordable rent.

These rural districts don’t rank among the districts with the highest numbers of homeless students. But rural areas tend to rank high in the districts with the highest percentage of homeless students -- and the same held true this year.

Butte Falls School District in Jackson County had one less homeless student than last year, but the 58 homeless students made up nearly 25 percent of the district’s enrollment.

Mapleton School District in Lane County reported 43 homeless students -- 30 percent of the district’s enrollment. Unincorporated Mapleton has fewer than 1,000 residents, according to the latest census.

Each school district employs at least one homeless student liaison who tries to make sure students who are functionally homeless -- whether sheltered or on the street -- receive quality educations. Under federal rules, students are considered homeless not only when they live in homeless shelters or outdoors but also when they live in substandard housing, such as that without full plumbing, or doubled up with friends or relatives because they can't afford a home of their own.

The state also tracks how well students who don’t have permanent housing perform compared to their peers. The difference is stark -- freshman homeless students are less 20 percent likely to be on track to graduate than their peers with permanent housing.

They have much higher rates of absenteeism and are far behind their peers in all subjects, especially math.

That achievement gap has decreased over the past few years, but only by a few percentage points.

-- Molly Harbarger

mharbarger@oregonian.com
503-294-5923
@MollyHarbarger

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