TAMPA, Fla. — While many students are excited school is out for the summer, it’s a worrisome time for school staff, knowing that there are record numbers of children experiencing homelessness in Tampa Bay.
Melissa Babanats has been working in the Hillsborough County Public School District (HCPS) for almost two decades, now as the principal at Lewis Elementary School, with one of the district’s highest populations of students living below the poverty line and experiencing homelessness.
“It is a wide range when we talk about homelessness, but it's still the uncertainty of ‘where am I gonna put my head tonight?’ and we definitely have seen a difference. I think this year has probably been one of the biggest differences in our turnover in populations,” Babanats exclaimed, adding that she has never seen such a transient population of families in a single school year.
“We're finding that students aren't staying put as long...and looking at the trend, a lot of it is due to financial struggles. Here at our school, we do have a higher population of homelessness,” Babanats added.
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“We know with the increase in inflation, a lot of our families are really having a difficult time right now,” said Carmon Hinton, Lewis Elementary Assistant Principal.
In February, Tampa Bay ranked number one with the highest inflation rate in the country— including everything from food to utilities.
The burden on families is reflected by the thousands of students now deemed by districts as experiencing homelessness or McKinney-Vento Act eligible.
The national McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which allocates funding to schools to help, defines homeless as any student who "lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence."
HCPS ended the 2022-23 school year at the end of May with 4,256 students identified as McKinney-Vento.
The counts are continuous throughout the year, but as of the last week of school:
- 268 students are living in cars or public spaces
- 322 are in emergency or transitional shelters
- 925 are in hotels and motels
- 2,741 are sharing or doubling up homes with others
The HCPS 2021-22 school year hit a record high of McKinney-Vento students at 4,513, according to data provided by the district.
Pinellas County Schools and Polk County Schools continued to break records for students experiencing homelessness this year.
It can be complicated to quantify increases in students experiencing homelessness because some districts are losing enrollment while others are gaining, and as Babanats mentioned-- the transient population is also a huge factor.
Many school districts' numbers dropped by the thousands during the pandemic and returned in the last two years.
So we compared the 2019-2020 school year with this last school year, 2022-2023 -- looking at the state department’s enrollment data and district-provided McKinney-Vento student counts.
Hillsborough County Public School enrollment increased about 1,000 students and the district gained about 1,000 more McKinney-Vento students-- from 3,163 to 4,256. Polk County Public Schools gained 7,000 more students in the last three years and an additional 1,000 McKinnney-Vento students-- from 3,738 to 4,630.
Pinellas County Public Schools lost 6,000 students and gained about 500 more McKinney-Vento students-- from 4,255 to 4,717. Pasco County Public Schools is up 9,000 students and the homeless count is down by about 100-- from 1,877 to 1,771.
Food insecurity is another issue with this population of students. During the pandemic, the USDA provided free meals for every student throughout the country.
When that ended last year, many districts opted into the Community Eligibility Provision or CPE program, which allocates funding for breakfast and lunch to districts where at least 40% of students receive federal benefits or are part of vulnerable populations, including homeless, in foster care, migrants, runaways, and Head Start.
Lewis Elementary in Temple Terrace is one of nearly 180 out of 250 schools in Hillsborough County deemed CPE.
“So we don't have any students that pay for lunch at our school,” Babanats said when explaining the population need. She added that they are 86% free and reduced lunch, qualifying the school as Title 1.
All of these factors make the last day of school bittersweet for teachers and administrators.
“We still have, you know, three months in the summer that we have to worry about where our students are because we want them back in August. We want them back healthy in August,” Babanats expressed.
Districts provide free meals to students at certain locations throughout the summerand several nonprofits are also stepping up to help feed families this summer, but a new program in Hillsborough with Metropolitan Ministries and the Hispanic Services Council hopes to help the whole family get back on their feet.
“Pathways to Hope is a homeless prevention program. We've identified 10 schools where children are at-risk of homelessness and their families,” explained Dorcas Smith, Director of Community Case Management Services for Metro Ministries.
The Pathways to Hope program focuses on three areas: housing security, income, stability, and overall well-being of the families.
Lewis Elementary is one of the 10 schools with slots for about 40 families in the program.
“Metropolitan Ministries will be a 12-month program, so they will still be housed at our school during the summer,” Babanats said. “Getting the word out to parents that they're here to help is key.”
The 10 participating schools include:
- Lewis Elementary
- Robinson Elementary
- Forest Hills Elementary
- Oak Park Elementary
- Greco Middle
- Jennings Middle
- Mango Elementary
- Pinecrest Elementary
- Dover Elementary
- Turkey Creek Middle
Families with children attending one of these ten schools can contact their school or request services online by filling out a referral form. Spanish-speaking families can request online services by filling out a referral form here.
So far, about 100 families have signed up for the Pathways to Hope program, but Metro Ministries is calling for more help to get all of our students and their families into homes.
“We just need more partnerships, collaborations with landlords, private owners, and just really more community support around housing to get our families housed and to keep them housed,” Smith said.
Every district has staff and community partnerships to assist families who need help. Babanats said that help could even be for a day until the next paycheck comes, and parents should never feel ashamed to ask their child’s school for resources.
It’s also important to note that the McKinney-Vento Act protects parents, so families should not worry about children being taken away.
Metropolitan Ministries also has other programs and resources for residents struggling to afford the cost of living throughout Tampa Bay.
You can also call 211 from anywhere you live to ask for resource connections.
If your child or teen needs meals throughout the summer, the Summer Break Spot provides free meals Monday through Thursday. You can also text 'Food' or 'Comida' to 304304.