'Devastating' instability: 4 in 10 Rochester students moved or changed schools in 2 years
Nearly 40% of students in the Rochester City School District either moved or switched schools over the course of the last two school years, a level of instability that disrupts their academic achievement, according to a report released Thursday by The Children's Agenda.
One in 12 students was homeless in the last pre-COVID school year compared to 1 in 100 in the Monroe County suburbs. That figure threatens to rise with the expiration of the COVID-era eviction moratorium, a measure that temporarily kept more students in stable housing.
"The loss of housing can be devastating to a child’s life trajectory," report author Pete Nabozny wrote. "Frequent student mobility in high-poverty school districts like the Rochester City School District puts stresses on the education system that makes it more difficult for public education to fulfill its mission of educating all children."
Among the report's key findings:
In the last two years, 16% of students in grades K-11 moved and 17% left RCSD altogether.
Census data from 2018 and 2019 shows that RCSD students were about twice as likely as their peers in the Monroe County suburbs to change housing within the previous year.
Children in grades K-3 were the most likely to change addresses, while secondary students had comparatively greater stability.
There was wide variability across schools, with poorer schools tending to see more instability. Half of students at George Mather Forbes School 4 off Jefferson Avenue moved or changed schools compared to 25% at Charles Carroll School 46 in the Browncroft neighborhood.
Eviction and homelessness rates have largely returned to pre-COVID levels.
The figures on students changing schools exclude normal transition years from elementary to secondary school, Nabozny said.
Research has shown that instability in housing can have detrimental effects on children, including a higher risk of dropping out. It also correlates with unsafe living conditions and various negative health outcomes, among other things.
In one family highlighted in the report, a mother of five struggled to pay rent and also keep her children safe from violence outside the home and extensive mold within it. Once she secured an apartment in a Rochester Housing Authority property, she was able to stop working a second job and spend more time with her children.
From 2019: One in 10 RSCD students homeless as affordable housing market tightens
The solutions proposed in the report mostly have to do with housing policy and poverty reduction:
Expand the New York State Child Tax Credit and increase the shelter allowance, a category of public assistance meant to cover housing costs. Both sources of money could help families to pay rent or make a down payment on a house.
Strengthen tenant protection laws, including ensuring the right to legal representation for eviction proceedings.
Build more subsidized housing, including in low-poverty areas; remove barriers to affordable development of all types; and provide more housing vouchers.
The report arrives just weeks before RCSD releases its much-anticipated school reorganization plan. The district has said it will take steps toward strengthening the neighborhood school model, but also will stop letting most students stay at their school even after they move to a different part of town.
Justin Murphy is a veteran reporter at the Democrat and Chronicle and author of "Your Children Are Very Greatly in Danger: School Segregation in Rochester, New York." Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/CitizenMurphy or contact him at jmurphy7@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: RCSD students see 'devastating' instability in housing and schools
