The number of Carson City School District students living in motels or hotels has doubled over 2023-24, Carson City School District McKinney-Vento staff members report.
The district has identified 327 students who qualified for McKinney-Vento services, 256 enrolled in CCSD and 28 living in motels or hotels. However, from June 30 to Feb. 19, 330 students have been identified, 294 students enrolled and 64 are living in motels or hotels.
The district’s McKinney-Vento program focuses on providing support for students experiencing homelessness and protecting the rights of students to attend school even when housing becomes uncertain.
“We’re seeing families live there for months or an extended amount of time having to live in the motels,” said Christie Perkins, CCSD director of Multi-Tiered System of Support and Student Wellness. “So that’s been an alarming change … We’ve seen evictions in apartments, which is forcing families and students into the hotels.”
Hannah Etchison, special projects and McKinney-Vento coordinator and foster care liaison, works with school staff members and families of prekindergartners through young adults, some up to 19, for basic school or health needs. However, mounting prices in gas, groceries and essentials are placing more burdens on families.
“I think through our department we’re also trying to remove that stigma around mental health services,” she said. “We have supports. We have social workers, we have contractors coming into sites, we have liaisons, and it’s OK to get the help you need to be successful.”
Superintendent Andrew Feuling, in his State of the District address Feb. 11, expressed concern about the uptick.
“Already halfway through the year, we have more kids who have received services than the entire last school year,” Feuling said.
Perkins said CCSD does not track families’ income, but job insecurity has placed an economic strain on family support for student shelter.
“We also have several families who are moving in and out of the district, but they can stay here so that we're having to provide a gas reimbursement or work with transportation,” Perkins said. “But then we pay transportation from our funds to cover those additional routes, and all those students in motels get a bus route from school, which is added some strain on our transportation department.”
For students living without a primary caregiver, the district partners with Carson nonprofit Spirit of Hope. Students receive housing assistance until graduation, Internet and transportation to medical appointments.
“Our donation account has really had to support those students and those families, much more significantly than in previous years,” Perkins said.
CCSD partners with donors to supply McKinney-Vento students with food, coats, shoes or money. In the spring, fundraisers or drives provide students with prom dresses or formal event accessories, graduation regalia or yearbook photos. Scholarships assist with laptops to send students to postsecondary training, Perkins said.
“It could be a very difficult time for these kids and their families, so we do some academic checking in and progress monitoring … and our teachers have been really great, too, about maybe excusing some assignments or giving them extended time on things because the situation can be difficult,” Perkins said.