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HOMELESS STUDENTS

Legislators consider lowering supermajority for bonds JULIE WOOTTON

jwootton@magicvalley.com

his heavily Republican legislature to set aside their hands-off views about the government on this issue. Studies have been conducted. Proposals have been put forward. But after four years, lawmakers have come up with no alternative.

“While it is clear there is broad agreement on the fact there is a problem, agreement on what to do about it is another story,” Otter wrote in a statement to The Washington Post.

Now that Republicans in Washington are moving to undo Obamacare, as the federal law is commonly known, Otter has suggested that Idaho pause its efforts and see what happens.

That pause could last a while.

After vowing to immediately repeal and replace the law, President Trump and congressional Republicans have indicated that the process could push into next year. Republicans have yet to agree on a plan to replace Obamacare but are hoping to

WENDELL — After four failed bond attempts, the Wendell School District was running low on options to pay for school repairs.

Over two years starting in 2014, the majority of voters said “yes” during each election. But it wasn’t enough to clear the required two-thirds supermajority: 66.67 percent.

It meant needed facility projects — such as replacing a leaky roof at the Wendell High School gymnasium — were delayed. And others weren’t tackled at all.

Wendell and other school districts across Idaho have struggled for years with the supermajority requirement.

“Communities that have aging buildings sometimes face an uphill battle to get that vote,” said Brady Dickinson, director of operations for the Twin Falls School District.

The Idaho Constitution requires a two-thirds voter approval to pass a bond measure.

For years, local government officials have said that requirement is too high and prevents critical projects from moving forward.

House Minority Leader Mat Erpelding says this requirement in the Idaho Constitution is antiquated and that the threshold should be reduced to 60 percent.

The House Local Government Committee approved Erpelding’s bill on Wednesday.

Constitutional amendments must pass with a two-thirds majority in both bodies and then win a simple majority in a statewide vote come November.

A constitutional amendment is a long process, said Wendell School District Superintendent Greg Lowe. “The legislators can’t just do that on their own.”

And the topic has come up before at the legislature, Dickinson said. “Usually, it doesn’t make it too far.”

The legislature has a strong commitment to protecting property owners, he said, which is understandable.

Cassia County School District spokeswoman Debbie Critchfield said she’s encouraged by the renewed discussion about lowering the supermajority requirement.

It has been a regular topic for Idaho school districts for years, she said, and has been supported by the Idaho School Boards Association.

But at the legislative level, “typically, we were told it was a dead conversation and that it wasn’t worth pursuing,” said Critchfield, who’s also a member of the Idaho Board of Education.

In Wendell, there’s a long history of bond election struggles.

About a decade ago, a $1.5 million measure for a new agriculture

Please see ACA, Page A4

Please see BONDS, Page A4

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS

Lorie Wendel talks about her circumstances — and what it’s like sharing a single Twin Falls motel room for her family of four — while her 13-yearold son, Stanley Haney, plays a game Jan. 11 in the Old Towne Lodge. Of the 527 Twin Falls children identified as homeless as of May, 77 percent were doubled up with another family. Eleven percent lived in motels, 10 percent in a shelter and 2 percent in a camper trailer, motor home or car.

Despite a strong economy and low unemployment rates, many south-central Idaho school districts see an increasing number of homeless students, and the number across Idaho is rising rapidly. But those students’ situations are different than you might expect, and school officials providing food assistance and clothing vouchers are learning to think differently about homelessness. See the story on E1.

In Idaho, replacing ACA may not be as easy as rejecting it ROBERT SAMUELS

The Washington Post

NAMPA — Jamie Gluch lumbered into the kitchen and pulled from the freezer a bag of corn, the only affordable analgesic he had for his swollen face.

“You going to be OK?” asked his wife, 44-year-old Chelle Gluch. Jamie grunted “I’m all right” and joined the children at their in-home day-care business, who were watching cartoons on the sofa.

Gluch’s tooth had rotted weeks before, but seeing a dentist was an unthinkable expense after car trouble sucked up the family’s savings.

The Gluchs had hoped it wouldn’t come to this — a car or a tooth — when former president Barack Obama announced his health-care plan years ago. But then Idaho chose not to expand Medicaid, as the law allowed, and then Idahoans chose not to come up with their own plan, even though state leaders keep trying.

Now Idaho serves as an ex-

KYLE GREEN/THE WASHINGTON POST

Chelle Gluch hoped the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion would help her family. “It was our only hope,” she says. But Idaho rejected it. ample of what could happen in states across the country if Congress, with the support of President Donald Trump, repeals the Affordable Care Act. Many of the proposals to replace the federal law call for states to come up with their own health-care solutions, to be “laboratories for innovation.” But that doesn’t mean

states will take up that challenge.

And even if they do, it doesn’t mean they will succeed.

In Idaho, Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter, a Republican, vowed to come up with a replacement after declining to fully embrace the Medicaid expansion that was offered as part of the Affordable Care Act. He’s tried to persuade

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THE BIG STORY

Sunday, February 12, 2017 | E1

Sunday, February 12, 2017 | magicvalley.com | SECTION E

Homeless students

As numbers rise, school districts learn to see homelessness differently JULIE WOOTTON

jwootton@magicvalley.com ‌

‌TWIN FALLS — A worsening back injury pushed Lorie Wendel out of the work force and into the ranks of the homeless.

Living in a single cramped room at the Old Towne Lodge in downtown Twin Falls, the divorced mother’s three teenagers are getting their homework done and doing well in school. But it’s a challenge.

“The biggest impact is we’re all in the same room,” Wendel said.

There’s no privacy. “The two boys fight constantly.”

Despite a strong economy and low unemployment rates, many south-central Idaho school districts see an increasing number of homeless students. But those students’ situations are different than you might expect.

“Homelessness is a totally different look,” said Kim Bedke, homeless services coordinator for the Cassia County School District. “A lot of times, you’re not going to see people on the streets or with signs.”

Instead, many share an apartment or house with another family.

Across Idaho, 7,832 students were homeless last school year, up almost 1,700 from the 2012-13 school year.

Here in the Magic Valley, school officials say one reason for the uptick may be that they’re doing a better job of identifying homeless students.

Four percent of Twin Falls School District students are homeless, and the number has increased more than 50 percent over five years.

As of May, 527 Twin Falls children were identified as homeless — 434 of whom were in school.

Seventy-seven percent were doubled up with another family; 11 percent lived in motels, 10 percent in a shelter and 2 percent in a camper trailer, motor home or car.

Who qualifies? The definition — children who lack a “fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence” — is set by the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which went into effect in 1987 and was reauthorized by Congress in 2015 under the Every Student Succeeds Act. If students are identified as homeless, they keep that designation throughout the school year, even if their living situations change.

What leads to homelessness?

The circumstances may include divorce, domestic violence, a lost job, parents who are in and out of jail, house fires, mold in homes, and unexpected medical issues or accidents.

“There’s just an array of different reasons people become DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌ homeless,” said JoAnn Gemar, at-risk services coordinator and Rebecca Haney, 16, works on math homework Jan. 11 in the Twin Falls motel room she shares with her mother, two siblings and three cats. Rebecca homeless liaison for the Twin Falls doesn’t want her classmates to know about their living situation.

School District.

The effects on children can be huge.

Homeless students may be in an Today’s coverage of homeless environment where it’s a struggle students is the first half of a to get adequate sleep and food or two-part series. to find a quiet place to do homework. And parents might rely on Next Sunday’s coverage will foteens to look after younger sibcus on Valley House Homeless lings and prepare meals while Shelter, which is preparing to they work. renovate a derelict house as Like their peers, homeless mida single women’s shelter and dle schoolers want to hang out build new apartments for famwith their friends and be goofy. ily transitional housing.

“They’re not any different than Valley House helps people in a any other kid,” Robert Stuart Midlot of different situations. Redle School Principal Amy McBride porter Tetona Dunlap will share said. intimate looks at the lives of If schools can help students several, such as a woman left through homelessness and toward homeless by a family rift, a successful graduation, Twin Falls couple who moved to Idaho for School District spokeswoman Eva a job that never materialized Craner said, perhaps they can and immigrants who arrived build better lives. with little to their names.

“Ultimately,” she said, “we want them to break that cycle.”

Look for it Sunday in the TimesNews and Magicvalley.com.

About this series

What homelesness looks like‌

losing a home to fire. A family in Jerome families demonstrate a fifth wheel on a relative’s propthe variety of situations called erty. homelessness: a young adult raisSome families moved to Jerome ing younger siblings while both thinking they could find work but PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌ parents are in prison, for examHead custodian Randy Price loads boxes of canned goods for the Harrison Elementary School food pantry into ple. A family living in a motel after Please see HOMELESS, Page E4 the back of his truck Jan. 17 at Rock Creek Elementary School in Twin Falls.

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MORE INSIDE: Inside a homeless mother’s life: 4 people, 3 cats, 1 motel room, E2 | Dad’s death leaves homeless teen on her own, E3 | Family stuck in motel waits for a way out, E3

THE BIG STORY

Times-News

Sunday, February 12, 2017 | E2

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌

Stanley Haney, 13, flexes his muscles Jan. 11 in his family’s Twin Falls motel room. Because of Stanley’s attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, his mother picks him up from school so he won’t get lost or injured crossing the street.

Inside a homeless mother’s life: 4 people, 3 cats, 1 motel room JULIE WOOTTON

jwootton@magicvalley.com ‌

‌TWIN FALLS — Divorce turned everything upside down for Lorie Wendel.

After the stay-at-home mom parted ways with her husband in 2012, she and her three children moved into an apartment, and Wendel worked for 2 1/2 years as a Walmart clerk.

But working aggravated a pre-existing back injury, she said, and a doctor told her she needed to stop.

Things spiraled downhill.

The family, homeless since April 2014, just celebrated its second Christmas at the Old Towne Lodge in downtown Twin Falls. Before moving there, Wendel and her kids bounced among Addison Avenue West motels and spent three weeks at Valley House Homeless Shelter.

Wendel said she probably could afford to pay rent for their own place but doesn’t have money for a deposit.

And for two years, she has fought to get disability benefits. A medical provider told her she had arthritis, she said, but an MRI revealed one herniated disc and three bulging discs causing nerve impingement.

Now the 52-year-old says she can’t work or lift more than five pounds.

“My kids have been an awesome help.”

‘Don’t want their classmates to know’‌ Metal stairs lead to the second floor of the Old Towne Lodge on Second Avenue West, with exterior hallways. From the inside, a fuzzy blanket covers the window of the family’s motel room.

On the frigid afternoon of Jan. 11,

Wendel answered her door, apologizing for the dirty floor because she hadn’t vacuumed yet that day.

Inside, her 16-year-old daughter, Rebecca Haney, sat on a bed doing math homework. Her worksheets and notebooks were neatly organized in a pink binder.

“I need you to help me study because we have a quiz on Friday,” she told her mother.

After finishing her math problems, Rebecca took out large sketchpads and colored pencils and worked on a drawing of a peace sign.

Stanley Haney, 13, lay on mattresses on the floor playing a game on his cellphone. He got up to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, placing the bread on a blanket.

Johnathan Haney, 17, was still at a school drama rehearsal.

The four people share their single motel room with three cats.

Wendel and Rebecca share a bed, up off the floor. The boys sleep on two stacked mattresses.

Wendel said she’s at the motel most of the time except when picking up Stanley from school. She’s worried about her son — who has attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and Asperger syndrome — walking home from the bus stop by himself.

Inside the motel room, clothes were jammed into a small closet.

Bins, games and cleaning supplies were stacked below. All over the room were plastic drawers with clothes and other possessions.

Baseball caps hung on one wall, and the nails hammered into the opposite wall were empty. A bag of trash hung inside the front door, its strings around a hinge. The odor of cigarette smoke filled the room.

In the bathroom, white paint is peeling away from the wall. The

faucet runs continually, and the toilet doesn’t always flush. And, Wendel said, there’s mold.

She decided against a bigger room at the motel because those have miniature refrigerators. All of the rooms come with a microwave, she said. She also has a full-size refrigerator, a CrockPot and an electric skillet, and a friend loaned her a toaster oven.

“We eat just fine,” Wendel said. “The only thing that sucks is we don’t have an oven.”

But living in a motel room has other challenges.

Last summer, police were at the motel for five days straight when fights broke out, Wendel said, adding she keeps a close eye on her children. “During the wintertime, it’s not so bad.”

Despite the challenges, Wendel said her children get their schoolwork done and she helps them.

And she knows if her children need anything for school, she can call JoAnn Gemar — the Twin Falls School District’s at-risk service coordinator and homeless liaison.

“She’s been my crutch through all of this,” Wendel said.

Wendel said she appreciates how the school district doesn’t single out the children when they receive help.

“The kids don’t want their classmates to know they’re living in a motel or car,” she said.

Rebecca looked up from her homework. “Me,” she said.

The school district has provided school supplies and vouchers to buy shoes. When Stanley’s binder broke recently, Wendel called Gemar to ask for another.

Wendel’s two oldest children go to Canyon Ridge High School.

“Canyon Ridge did a really awesome thing for us this year,” she said.

The family was a recipient of Christmas gifts through the student council’s Pennies for Possibilities program. When student leaders delivered the presents, an entire bed was stacked high with gifts.

“That’s all I could do,” Wendel said, “was sit here and cry.”

‘Quite the turnaround’‌

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Reporter Julie Wootton first wrote about homeless Twin Falls students in 2012 and has wanted to revisit the topic since then. She’s thankful for the three families in Twin Falls and Jerome who shared intimate details about their lives for this project.

As she talked about her children the morning of Jan. 19, pajama-clad Wendel sat on her bed smoking a cigarette.

Thor, a 6-month-old cat, jumped onto her lap, eventually spreading out on the bed to fall asleep.

Wendel said she’s proud of her children and thinks they’ll do well as adults.

Johnathan graduates from Canyon Ridge this year and plans to attend the College of Southern Idaho. He is protective of his family, is good at striking up conversations with strangers and “tells

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌

A cat hangs out on the bed while Lorie Wendel, back left, talks about her family’s circumstances Jan. 11 in their Twin Falls motel room. it like it is,” Wendell said. Also, “he has a very, very large passion for music.”

Johnathan’s father loves to sing; while they were married, Wendel bought a karaoke machine. When Johnathan was 4 or 5, he’d pick up a microphone and sing along with his father.

He wants to be a country singer, Wendel said. But his plan is to become a business owner, opening his own music store and recording studio.

“He’s known since the seventh grade what he wanted to do,” Wendel said. “That’s saying a lot for a teenager.”

She started talking with Johnathan about paying for college when he was in ninth grade. He was approved for financial aid and is applying for a GEAR UP need-based scholarship. He doesn’t doesn’t want to use student loans, Wendel said.

Johnathan plans to earn a degree in business management/ entrepreneurship, and Wendel spoke to a CSI adviser about the program.

“They teach you everything you need to know to start a business,” she said.

Wendel said she’s proud of Rebecca, too. Her daughter — now a high school junior — used to make every excuse not to go to school. “She had a huge chip on her shoulder.”

But just before school started in August, Rebecca told her mom she would try hard in classes, Wendel said. “She’s proved it.”

Rebecca does her homework and chores and cooks dinner.

“She’s made quite the turnaround,” Wendel said.

Rebecca isn’t sure what she wants to do but has dreamed of going to a California university, Wendel said, and becoming a nurse or pediatrician. She also enjoys photography and drawing.

For Stanley’s birthday each March, Wendel asks him what he wants. He doesn’t usually give a straight answer. He either wants everything he sees, Wendel said, or what his older brother has.

But lately, she’s starting to see his own interests come through.

He loves Pokeman — especially

Pikachu — and wants to collect Pokeman cards.

Stanley received a box of LEGOs for Christmas, and she watched that activity flourish.

“Without using the book that comes with it, he’s very creative,” she said.

Wendel said she thinks her son may be good with computers and wants to test his interest in different topics.

‘Not end up like I am’‌

It’s a long process applying for disability benefits. And Wendel hates waiting.

At a disability hearing in early January, the judge decided to keep her case open for a month, Wendel said, pending the results of a Feb. 2 consultation with a surgeon.

“The judge was really surprised when I told him we’re living in a motel,” she said. But she told him the family is getting by.

On Feb. 3 — the day after her consultation — Wendel said the surgeon wrote in her medical record that she could go back to work but that it would create more issues.

“In terms of disability, I’m not sure what that’s going to do,” she said, adding she hopes it doesn’t jeopardize her case. Wendel called her attorney to pass along the report.

She found out during the appointment that she also has sacroiliitis, a joint issue causing inflammation and pain near the lower spine and pelvis.

Wendel said she was told surgery won’t be an option and her condition is chronic and can’t be fixed. She was given stretches to try for two to three weeks. If that doesn’t help, she’ll be referred to a physical therapist.

“I was a little depressed when I left the doctor’s office,” she said.

Before that appointment, Wendel said she felt confident she’ll win the disability case. If she does, she expects to get a lump sum of $15,000 to $20,000.

It would allow the family to get into a more permanent residence and buy a better used car.

What Wendel wants for her children’s futures: “that they not end up like I am in a motel.”

THE BIG STORY

Times-News

Sunday, February 12, 2017 | E3

Family stuck in motel waits for a way out JULIE WOOTTON

jwootton@magicvalley.com ‌

‌TWIN FALLS — A Chihuahua barked inside a motel room at the Old Towne Lodge in downtown Twin Falls.

On that day, Jan. 11, Christy Nagel, her husband and two children had lived at the motel for about a week. They used to live in a camping trailer in an Addison Avenue West trailer park. But the trailer’s sewer line busted, leaving the family without running water, too.

Nagel and her husband paid for a motel room for January and February.

“It’s hard,” she said, but at least they’re warm and have a roof over their heads.

Nagel stays home with two children, and her husband works for a potato-processing company.

“It’s really rough on a one-person income,” she said.

Her grandson Nathanial, 6 — whom they’ve raised since birth — goes to I.B. Perrine Elementary School. Robert Stuart Middle School student Amber, 14, with hair dyed blue, sat on the bed next to her mother, wearing earbuds. Her eyes didn’t leave her cellphone screen.

‘Getting out of here’‌

Later that month, on Jan. 19, Twin Falls streets were icy and slushy in the midst of a winter storm. Nagel was in the motel room alone, talking on her cellphone with her oldest daughter, who’s 28 and lives out of the area.

The dog, Jitters, was stretched out in her arms as she scratched under his chin.

Her husband had dropped off the children at school on his way to work.

“I won’t drive in slush,” Nagel said.

Nagel, who called herself a private person, hadn’t told the schools about her family’s living situation.

“I’m really embarrassed about it,” she said.

A comforter from one of the beds covered most of the motel room window that morning. Pairs of shoes were on the floor near the doorway. A three-burner propane stove sat on the floor, and dirty clothes were piled underneath an entertainment stand with a flatscreen television.

It was a rare moment of quiet, which Nagel enjoys.

“The adjustment is going good,” she said. Amber and Nathanial “have an issue with the being-quiet thing. They’re kids.”

The family plans to move to Bullhead City, Ariz., by midMarch — after a tax refund arrives.

“We’re hooking up our trailer and getting out of here,” Nagel said.

They’ll live in the trailer until they get on their feet. Nagel’s older daughter and sister-in-law plan to move to nearby Las Vegas.

For years Nagel and her husband worked in the casino industry — she as a cocktail waitress, he as a card dealer — and they hope to find casino work again. Nagel is confident they’ll get into a better living situation.

“With both of us working, it shouldn’t take long,” she said.

Serving cocktails is easy money but hard on her body because it requires standing for hours.

Nagel, born and raised in Monterey, Calif., misses palm trees and is excited they’ll be closer to the beach. Her husband and children

DREW NASH PHOTOS, TIMES-NEWS‌

In a room at Twin Falls’ Old Towne Lodge, Christy Nagel talks about her family’s circumstances while daughter Amber, 14, plays a game Jan. 11. have never seen the ocean.

The children are excited about moving, she said. “They are so sick of the cold.”

‘It was just killing us’‌

The family moved to Twin Falls 15 years ago to follow Nagel’s brother-in-law, who opened businesses in the area.

They’ve been through a lot.

About 14 years ago, Nagel’s 5-month-old daughter died. Nagel was told it was sudden infant death syndrome, but she’s not sure she believes it.

Amber is exactly one year younger, to the date.

Before the trailer, the family lived in a fourplex near I.B. Perrine Elementary and Robert Stuart. It had three bedrooms and two bathrooms, but they couldn’t afford the $950 per month, Nagel said. “It was just killing us.”

At the motel, the children have to be quiet early in the morning and at night because an older man lives downstairs. Nathanial’s Ninja Turtles mat on the floor allows him to play with his toy trucks without being too loud.

Amber can sit 24/7 and play Minecraft, Nagel said. Her daughter got a computer for Christmas so she can play games.

“When summer comes, we will be outside,” Nagel said. The family usually goes to a park for free lunches provided by the Twin Falls School District and a couple of hours of play.

But during winter, Nagel tries to keep the children indoors. They get sick a lot.

Around the Old Towne Lodge, everyone is friendly, she said. The owner brought a full-size refrigerator to their room when she told him they have children. It allows her to buy cheap frozen dinners to heat in the microwave.

Nagel also goes to a Spanish-language church on Main Avenue once a week to get free bread.

While her children are at school, she catches up on television shows, washes dishes in the bathroom sink and uses the motel’s laundry room.

Nathanial Nagel, 6, plays with his cars while his grandmother talks in the background Jan. 11 in a Twin Falls motel.

When the family is home, they keep to themselves. “I don’t really like getting into people’s drama,” Nagel said. “I have my own crap going on.”

‘Don’t have the money’‌

For the children, doing homework at the motel and getting up on school days is tough.

Nagel said both of the children are doing well academically though they “absolutely hate school.”

Amber, an eighth-grader, loves a class where she’s learning about cooking and sewing. She also enjoys math. Amber has a 504 educational plan — a plan for students with physical or mental disabilities, allowing for them to get accommodations while staying in regular classrooms.

Nathanial, in first grade, is smart and likes math, Nagel said.

At home, he loves watching children’s shows such as “Curious George” on Netflix.

Nagel said her grandson used to battle against doing homework but doesn’t anymore and even reminds her when it’s time.

For Amber, “they let her do all of her homework at school,” Nagel said. “The second she thinks she has to bring home homework, she freaks out. It’s not pretty.”

On weekends, the family hangs out at the motel. Nagel said she’d love to go skating or bowling if they could afford it.

“We don’t have the money.”

Dad’s death leaves homeless teen on her own JULIE WOOTTON

jwootton@magicvalley.com ‌

‌JEROME — Homeless students aren’t always displaced with their families.

Sometimes, they’re on their own.

That’s what happened to 18-year-old Karelis Garcia. She recently graduated from Jerome High School a semester early, thanks to taking online and summer classes.

She qualified as homeless and had the option of getting extra help Garcia through the Jerome School District. But she has a roof over her head and a job to support herself.

‘Gotta grow up’‌ M 1

About five years ago, her mother and brother moved to Mexico.

Karelis stayed behind and was going to school in Gooding but “just wanted to try something new,” she said.

She spent her freshman year at Jerome High, went back to Gooding High School for her sophomore year and returned to Jerome for junior year.

With her dad’s approval, she lived with an aunt in Jerome. But on Aug. 26, her dad died — just a couple of days into Karelis’ senior year.

“Things got difficult,” she said.

“Sometimes you’ve gotta grow up sooner than you—,” she added later, her voice trailing off.

The Jerome School District constantly offered help, Karelis said, such as counseling and connections with community resources for food and clothing.

“They were really good about that,” she said. “I didn’t really take it because I felt other people

things off.” Her boyfriend helps out, too.

‘Kind of like in-between’‌

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌

Karelis Garcia, 18, rolls silverware at work Jan. 26 at La Campesina Restaurant in Jerome. might be more in need than I am.”

During fall semester, she went Karelis got a job as a waitress to school for three classes, then at La Campesina Restaurant and headed off to work. Now, she moved in with her boyfriend in works a full schedule. a neighborhood off Tiger Drive.

With a job, she said, “I can pay

On a chilly afternoon Jan. 26, Karelis was at La Campesina on South Lincoln Avenue, wearing all black and her hair pulled back into a long braid.

At 4 p.m., there were a few full tables as recorded mariachi music played. Between serving customers, Karelis sat in a booth and rolled clean silverware into paper napkins.

She’s sending money to her mother and brother in Mexico — something her father did before he died.

And her future?

“Right now, I’m kind of like in-between with what’s going to happen,” Karelis said.

She hopes to enroll at the College of Southern Idaho within the next year and wants to become a certified nursing assistant.

THE BIG STORY

Times-News

Sunday, February 12, 2017 | E4

Homeless From E1

haven’t been successful.

“Some of our high school youth are couch surfing,” Jerome School District federal programs director Kim Lickley said. That qualifies as homeless, too.

Cassia County’s homeless liaison, Jeannie Lierman, noticed an increase this year of high schoolers living on their own.

The Twin Falls district is getting better at identifying students who qualify as homeless.

In Jerome, that’s a particularly complicated task.

Jerome School District’s number of homeless students has fluctuated wildly over the past seven years — from a peak of 171 during the 2011-12 school year to just 45 this year. But that apparent drop is deceptive.

“I personally don’t think there’s been a huge change,” Lickley said.

But determining who’s homeless “is not black-and-white at all.”

Some families no longer qualify, she said, because they’re voluntarily doubling up. It’s something PAT SUTPHIN PHOTOS, TIMES-NEWS‌ Jerome school officials started looking at more closely last school Innovation lab teacher Christie Sorensen loads up food for the Harrison Elementary School food pantry Jan. 17 at Rock Creek Elementary School in year. For some Hispanic families, Twin Falls. in particular, the explanation is cultural: several generations living under the same roof.

Of Jerome students still identiThe number of homeless students across Idaho grew dramatically over the past fied as homeless, 85 percent share a five years. Numbers fluctuated in south-central Idaho’s school districts, but many residence with another family. also saw a growth trend.

“In our community, and I assume a lot of the Magic Valley, we 8000 have a lot of families who are doubled up,” Lickley said.

7000 As of mid-January all of Good6000 ing’s homeless families were 5000 doubled up, said Tami Ander4000 son, Gooding Elementary’s social 3000 worker.

Homeless students

2000

The stigma‌

To help homeless families, schools first need to know who they are. But some keep their living situations secret because they’re embarrassed or afraid of judgment.

Twin Falls’ Robert Stuart Middle School has a well-stocked food pantry. But despite information being distributed, not many families use it. McBride suspects some parents may be embarrassed to ask for help.

Just before Thanksgiving, a school counselor delivered a box of food to one student’s family — at home.

“We’re extremely sensitive to the embarrassment factor,” McBride said.

Many circumstances are beyond students’ control. But with kids, “anything can be a stigma,” McBride said. “And kids are not always kind.”

In Gooding, Anderson doesn’t use the word “homeless” when meeting with families who may need help.

If families qualify as homeless, students automatically qualify for free school lunches. “Sometimes, I use that as a conversation starter so I can build a relationship with a family and get more information,” she said.

The stigma is most often experienced by families who are homeless for the first time, Gemar said, particularly those who’ve been through a recent divorce or medical issue.

Identifying students‌

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In registration packets distributed at the beginning of each school year, Magic Valley families are asked to fill out a residency form.

Its questions include whether the family lives in a motel, doubled up, in a vehicle or in a house without running water.

School secretaries check to see if any “yes” answers are marked.

If so, information is passed to a homeless liaison — a designated person in each school or at a school district office. The liaison contacts the family to see if there’s a need.

In Twin Falls, Robert Stuart Middle School and Canyon Ridge High School each have an employee to help check on students who may meet homeless guidelines.

But Gemar oversees the process for the entire school district. That includes interviewing families and providing assistance.

Gemar also receives phone calls from people giving her a heads-up about families who may be struggling.

“Some I can get ahold of, some I can’t,” Gemar said. But she often goes to high schools to interview homeless students.

Siblings of Twin Falls School District students — including preschoolers and teens who dropped out of school — can qualify for assistance, too.

“Under the federal guidelines, they want us to track those kids,” Gemar said.

Midway through the school year, Magic Valley schools make the residency form available again and encourage families to fill it out if their living situations have changed.

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Head custodian Randy Price moves boxes of canned goods Jan. 17 at Rock Creek Elementary School. Eight Twin Falls schools have food pantries on campus.

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Rock Creek Elementary School currently houses a lot of canned goods from local food drives, and other Twin Falls schools visit Rock Creek to gather supplies for their own food pantries.

“Our eyes and ears are always open,” Lickley said.

Often there aren’t warning signs.

Some middle schoolers wear the same clothes frequently regardless of their living situations.

Teachers become aware of children’s homelessness by building a relationship, McBride said. “A lot of it becomes revealed at the ground level.”

Elementary school teachers may notice earlier because they see the same students all day, she said, but middle school teachers do well even with only 45-minute class periods and 30 students in each class.

Gemar reports to school administrators once a month about homeless students at each school.

At Robert Stuart, numbers in early January hovered between 45 and 50.

It’s a small percentage of the student body, McBride said, but it’s striking. “When I think of 50 kids, that seems exponential.”

Providing services‌

Children identified as homeless are eligible to receive help through their school districts. In Twin Falls, that means free school breakfasts and lunches, a weekend backpack program with food through The Idaho Foodbank, school supplies, transportation, tutoring, hygiene items, clothing, school uniforms for Bridge Academy students and referrals to community agencies to help with other needs.

In Cassia County, it means backpacks, school supplies, senior project supplies, class fees and college entrance exams. The Cassia County district can also purchase school uniforms, required at Cassia High School, and provide vouchers for Deseret Industries clothing.

A portion of federal Title I funding to school districts, which help students living in poverty, is designated for homeless students.

For the Jerome School District, that’s only about $2,000 this year.

So in Jerome, homeless families are referred to community resources such as the Jerome Food Ministry. Free hot meals are offered at St. Jerome Catholic Church; food is available at Martha

& Mary’s Food Pantry, and clothing at Joseph’s Closet.

“The rest of it is mostly pointing them in the right direction,” Lickley said.

Many school districts work with Deseret Industries to provide vouchers for thrift store clothing.

The problem in Jerome: Families may not have transportation to get to the Twin Falls store.

One of Lickley’s frustrations is finding community resources for homeless high schoolers, such as those who have just a few months before graduation.

“Being in Jerome, we don’t have a shelter,” she said.

Lickley wants to start a program to find temporary host families in Jerome.

“In the five months I’ve been here, there were a couple of situations where it would have been nice to have a host family,” she said.

Besides the federal Title I money, the Twin Falls district has a McKinney-Vento subgrant of $105,000 for three years — money that helps pay for Gemar’s salary and homeless student services.

Eight Twin Falls schools have food pantries on campus: Bickel, Harrison, Lincoln, Oregon Trail and Rock Creek elementary schools; Robert Stuart Middle School; and Canyon Ridge and Magic Valley high schools. The Twin Falls Optimist Club’s “Coats for Kids” project provides coats.

Local churches help out with food donations and Payless gift cards for shoes.

“The network JoAnn has created is incredible,” Craner said.

Last year, a homeless student at Magic Valley High School was living on his own and working full time but didn’t have transportation, Gemar said. A local church donated a bicycle, helmet and lock.

“He was so excited.”

Recently, the school district gave a grandmother gas cards so she could drive her grandchildren — whom she’s raising — 17 miles to school in Twin Falls so they wouldn’t have to change schools.

Parents have a choice about whether to keep their children in their home schools, and the school

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NOTES: Why are data for some years missing? They’re not reported for one of two reasons: The school district didn’t provide numbers to the state that year, or it had fewer than 10 homeless students and the state redacted information to protect student privacy.

The Idaho Department of Education didn’t provide data for the Camas County, Bliss, Valley, Richfield, Hansen, Murtaugh and Castleford school districts, nor for Xavier Charter School, Heritage Academy, North Valley Academy and Syringa Mountain School.

Murtaugh School District’s 2013-14 spike in homeless student numbers was due to a couple of families with multiple children who doubled up for housing.

Sources: Idaho Department of Education, Murtaugh School District.

district provides busing.

“We try very, very hard to keep them in their same school,” Gemar said.

It’s important for homeless students to have something consistent in their lives, McBride said, and staying at a home school gives that stability.

Grades can fluctuate when students move frequently, so Gemar checks Twin Falls homeless students’ grades each quarter. If they’re failing a class, the school formulates a plan — if parents give the OK — to help them pass.

Robert Stuart employees also check homeless students’ grades every week or every other week; if they’re struggling in a class, school officials talk with the teacher and come up with a plan. One option is staying after school to complete homework. Robert Stuart offers

tutoring for all students from 2:45 to nearly 4 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and a school bus takes them home.

The school district can also provide tutoring if it’s not offered at a student’s school.

It’s Gemar’s fifth year in the job, and she has encountered few people who said “no” to help. But most weren’t aware of the services offered until she got in touch.

She said it’s key to be respectful of homeless families and to offer help that’s in their best interests.

“I think it’s just dropping those barriers.”

Gemar — who has worked in social services more than 40 years — said it’s ultimately a family’s choice whether to accept assistance. And overseeing more than 400 homeless students doesn’t leave time for individual case management.