Homeless Farmington Schools Students in Detroit News Profile

An April 3 Detroit News report on the increasing number of homeless students in Michigan schools includes interviews with two Farmington Public Schools students and their parents. 

The report notes that the ranks of newly homeless students have swelled over the past four years by 66 percent, to more than 37,500 in 2011-12, according to the Michigan Dept. of Education. It includes a profile of the Goudeseune family, who lost their $600,000 Farmington home when Rob Goudeseune lost his job. 

Farmington Schools homeless coordinator Hatty Ligon told the Detroit News that the district serves 66 homeless students. In 2011-2012, 71 students qualified for services, according to a report provided to school officials. 

Under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1987, schools must find a way to keep children in the school they attended before they became homeless. The Detroit News report quotes advocates as saying the funding districts receive as part of the act aren't keeping up with the need. 

"The budget sequester will cut funding by 5 percent for 2013-14," the article noted.