Page 12 - Sonoma County Gazette 11-17

SRJC Student Survey:
Most Ready To Return, Yet 480 Have Lost Homes
The Rights of Displaced Students
For some of the 480 Santa Rosa Junior College students who lost homes in the recent fires, returning to class will help them regain a sense of normalcy. But many students will find it challenging to attend classes while trying to resurrect day-to-day basics of their lives.
The res have left hundreds of children in Sonoma County without homes. Schools are working diligently to assess which students within their
The SRJC Office of Institutional Research surveyed students this week to gauge the impact of the fires on students, and as of October 19, more than 11,000 students responded. Seventy-nine percent of the students said they are ready
to return to school next week. An estimated 15% are unsure if they can return, submitting comments such as “Life is one day at a time right now.”
communities are now displaced, but it will take time to know exactly how many students in our community have experienced a loss of housing as the result of the res. In the meantime, local schools are working hard to ensure educational stability for these students.
their place of employment or their employers house were destroyed in the fires. Many indicated they were worried about lost wages, or not having money for food, rent, bills and childcare.
accommodation for human beings;
• Children and youth who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned
The SRJC Fire Relief Fund has been established to support the urgent needs of current students and employees who’ve lost their homes. Donations can be made online at http://firerelief.santarosa.edu.
circumstances described above.
There is extensive information at www.santarosa. edu describing how the College is helping students, faculty and staff affected by the fires.
becoming homeless, even if they are temporarily housed in a di erent school
SRJC students who have been heavily impacted by the fires should contact: studentaffairs@santarosa. edu or call (707) 527-4424 for help.
remain enrolled
• free-reduced lunch
• immediate enrollment in the school district in which they are homeless or
Faculty and staff who have been heavily impacted by the fires should contact Human Resources at smuskar@santarosa.edu, shopkins@santarosa.edu, (707) 524-1624 or (707) 527-4831.
temporarily housed per one of the categories listed above
• enrollment even without documents that are typically required
SRJC is using hashtags #SRJCstrong and #SRJCfuerte to build awareness and support for those affected by this disaster.
For further information, contact your local school, or the Sonoma County Office of Education (Homeless Youth Education Services Coordinator, Debra Sanders - 707-524- 2661, dsanders@scoe.org). More information is also available at scoe.org/pub/htdocs/ homeless-education.html. Information in Spanish is available at scoe.org/pub/htdocs// families-support-spanish.html.
12 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 11/17
Eleven percent said they were impacted a great deal by the fires, 20% responded they weren’t impacted at all, and remainder were impacted to some degree. In addition to students who lost homes,
The Federal McKinney-Vento Act is intended to provide protections for students experiencing
61 SRJC faculty and staff lost their homes.
hardship, or a similar reason (sometimes referred to as doubled-up);
• living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to lack of
Numerous students reported
in the survey they had lost jobs because
alternative adequate accommodations;
• living in emergency or transitional shelters;
• abandoned in hospitals
• Children and youth who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public
homelessness. Lack of stable housing impacts youth in many ways, including academic continuity and progress. School is a safe
community for youth, where they connect to peers and trusted adults. The goal of this legislation is to ensure school stability for students and remove barriers that could cause them to miss out on educational time.
McKinney Vento applies to youth who are living in any of the following situations:
• sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic
or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping
buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and • Migratory children who qualify as homeless because they are living in
Students identi ed as homeless are entitled to education-related support, including:
• continued enrollment in the school that they were attending prior to
district
• transportation support to get to and from school of origin, if they elect to