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Kansas City Today

How a Jackson County district is failing homeless students

By Nomin Ujiyediin,
Byron J. Love
Published November 18, 2022 at 4:00 AM CST
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School districts are required by law to help homeless children stay in school. Most Kansas City-area districts take that role seriously, but the Blue Springs School District may be undercounting its unhoused kids — and failing to provide them critical services.

With rising rent prices, an affordable place to live is out of reach for many families. If families with school-aged children can’t find stable housing, federal law requires school districts to identify them and provide certain services.

But what happens when a district doesn’t identify all of its houseless students? KCUR’s Jodi Fortino tells us why students at one Kansas City-area school district may be falling through the cracks.

Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR onTwitter andFacebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

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Kansas City Today Jackson CountyMissouriKansas City Schoolshomelessnesseducation
Nomin Ujiyediin
As a newscaster and a host of a daily news podcast, I want to deliver the most important and interesting news of the day in an engaging and easily understandable way. No matter where you live in the metro or what you’re interested in, I want you to learn something from each newscast or podcast – and maybe even give you something to talk about at the dinner table.
See stories by Nomin Ujiyediin
Byron J. Love
As an on-demand producer, I am focused on using my skills and experiences across multiple digital applications, platforms and media fields to create community focused audio, video and on-demand products for KCUR Studios. The media that I produce aims to inform, entertain and connect with the Kansas City metro area as we continue to learn from each other. Email me at byronlove@kcur.org.
See stories by Byron J. Love
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