![]() And during the pandemic, local homeless students “spent more time without devices and experienced internet issues at a much higher rate” than their peers, said Kaitlyn Nykwest HCEF’s afterschool and enrichment director. And while this disruption continues, national and local analyses have shown that students fell behind in reading and math during the pandemic.Įven before the pandemic, homeless students typically scored lower than other vulnerable student groups, including those who are economically disadvantaged. Department of Education, it takes homeless students four to six months to recover academically after switching schools. The lack of transportation means a number of homeless students have been forced to switch enrollment to the school districts where their temporary housing is located, a move long known to be disruptive to their education. The moves often take children outside of their regular school districts. But the majority are housed in temporary settings doubled up with family or friends after losing their permanent residences. Some local homeless students are living in shelters or motels. Data for the 2020-2021 will be posted by the state Department of Education later this year. The most recent data available shows there were 3,212 homeless students in Allegheny County in the 2019-2020 school year. Students are considered homeless if they lack “a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence,” under the McKinney-Vento Act. The Allegheny County Emergency Rental Assistance Program is set to expire in May. This comes at a time when advocates say homelessness is on the rise because of pandemic hardships, including job and housing losses, and the numbers are predicted to go even higher given the termination of eviction moratoriums and rental assistance programs. ![]() It’s definitely a very concerning and increasing problem,” said Brian Knight, manager of community engagement at the Homeless Children’s Education Fund. The school system is also looking for new bus drivers who have “a valid driver’s license, excellent driving skills, and an outstanding driving record.“Over and over we are hearing that there are not drivers to do the work of taking students from where they are now living to their original school district. To continue closing the gap, PPS encourages parents to “Release Your Seat” if their child or children will not need school-provided transportation to get to school. This change has concerned some parents, particularly those with younger children who must now walk along major roads to get to and from school. The school district is also increasing its walk zone, which has turned about 800 students from bus riders to walkers and has eliminated the need for 22 school buses. Currently, approximately 5,000 PPS students use Port Authority buses to get to and from school with Connect Cards issued by PPS. The increase in Port Authority ridership among students will eliminate the need for 38 school buses. Students attending non-PPS schools, such as Bishop Canevin High School, Ellis School, Environmental Charter School, Manchester Charter School, the Neighborhood Academy, Propel Charter Schools and Winchester Thurston, will also move to taking Port Authority. Seventh and eighth grade CAPA students already currently use Port Authority. Weekly passes have been distributed to sixth through eighth grade students at Pittsburgh Obama and Sci-Tech, sixth through 12th graders at Pittsburgh Milliones, and sixth graders at Pittsburgh CAPA. 16 in its PPS Community Talk Back: Transportation and Back-to-School. These new riders, along with one guardian to accompany them, will each be given a free Port Authority weekly pass so they can get practice catching the bus, exiting the bus, and notifying the operator of their stop. One measure the school district is taking to fill these gaps is teaming up with Port Authority of Allegheny County to expand student ridership by about 1,028 students. The shortage translates to a lack of 11,000 seats needed to transport students. 8, as the school system was short 426 drivers as of Aug. While school was initially set to start on Wed., Aug. Pittsburgh Public Schools is facing a shortage of school bus drivers.
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