The Washoe County School District is allocating COVID relief dollars to help students who don't have a home. They're using the money to hire staff who can cater to the needs of theses students.
Students experiencing homelessness have the highest chronic rates of absenteeism according to WCSD officials. Before COVID they had about 3,000 students experiencing homelessness in Washoe County.
Since then those numbers have dropped to 2,300. But the district says that's because it's harder to identify which students are homeless. The liaisons being hired are going to help expand the outreach to find out which students need help.
Rechelle Murillo, the Intervention Department Director for the WCSD mentions the students in unsafe living situations might not have access to electricity to do their homework at night, air conditioning and heat through the seasons or access to regular meals impacting the students ability to be successful.
They do find stability in school, she explains "They're incredibly resilient and a lot of times that is the one consistent place where they have their peers and their teachers where they have positive relationships."
The district is also fully prepared to give these students any supplies they don't already have. Murillo tells us as she walks through their supply garage "We want to make sure on first day of school they have everything they need and to get going and ready to learn."
But just because a student is homeless doesn't mean they'll be living directly on the streets, it can also mean a student living in a car, shelters or motels. Some students struggling will often miss school because they're working to bring home more money. Murillo says "You know understanding that our students are really trying to be resilient, we need our students in school and we want our families to be aware of the services so we can help support them."
