Second in a series by Cliff Lewis

Given the circumstances, the School District of Lancaster’s Homeless Students Project is a success worthy of note. Project Coordinator Ken Marzinko mentioned some of the statewide recognition that Lancaster’s program has received: Sheldon Winnick, coordinator of the State Homeless Children’s Education Fund, once told Marzinko that Lancaster’s is the foremost homeless education program in Pennsylvania. This reputation has even brought the PA Secretary of Education for a visit. But, even in the midst of relative success, Marzinko keeps a sober perspective: “Quite frankly, we lose more than we win,” he said.

The inherently ‘losing’ nature of this effort begins with the general and pervasive presence of poverty within the district: “You may be aware,” Marzinko noted, “That 81% of our student population was eligible for free and reduced lunch last school year. So the needs of many students living in poverty—not just homeless—are huge.” Right out of the gate, Marzinko’s program is forced to filter out the many needy students who do not technically qualify: “We have to concentrate our efforts on what we’re mandated to do—to serve homeless students.”

Students who do qualify for the program often slip away from the district before they can be adequately served. According to Marzinko, because of transient living situations, “students move out of the area, and we don’t know where they’ve gone for long periods of time—if ever.” Since shelters like Water Street Ministries only allow a limited stay (about 30 days), some students can pass through a school in only a month’s time.

The school that encounters the brunt of this problem is Carter and MacRae Elementary. Just across from Water Street Ministries, and with two other shelters within its territory, this school serves a population with a uniquely high rate of homelessness. According to Principal Ollie Jones, Carter and MacRae’s student body can be 20-40% homeless at a given time. Some of these students arrive without any identifying paperwork at all.

The school places students’ basic needs as the first order of business. Through a partnership with St. James Episcopal Church, Jones is always supplied with an emergency stock of shoes and clothing so that “if we have a kid that shows up without shoes, we have shoes.” The philosophy at Carter and MacRae is to “teach the child that’s in front of us today,” Jones said, never presuming that a student will be there tomorrow. Teachers regularly augment their lessons with instruction on basic life skills—like preparing a can of soup.

Perhaps surprisingly, this focus on the essentials of life does not detract from Carter and MacCrae’s academic record. While seven district elementary schools did not reach Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in 2009, Carter and MacRae was one of the six elementary schools that did.

But high turnover remains the school’s most significant problem. Often, Jones said, “once we fill the achievement gaps, they’re gone.”

This chronic pattern makes for a great deal of record-keeping, which, according to Marzinko, becomes a serious impediment in itself. To meet the requirements of their Pennsylvania Homeless Education Grant, the Homeless Students Project is required to maintain a voluminous database of names, grades, addresses, etc. “But having the time to enter all of that kind of stuff is an ongoing challenge,” Marzinko said.

“I’ve told our colleagues at the PA Department of Education,” Marzinko asserted, “That, until the School District Administration says otherwise, I’m going to continue to put serving homeless students as a first priority and ‘counting’ as a second priority.”