Dr. Meg Haist, one of those worried residents, told school leaders the elimination of the federal grant and the potential loss of a coordinator dedicated to working with housing-insecure students would take away a point person who's been a valuable resource.
"This is a program where having a point -of-contact for people in the community, for the people at Goodwill Industries, Catholic Action Center... the $400,000 that LFUCG gave to the school district to help Goodwill Industries place students into housing — all of this is dependent on having a point-of-contact for this person," she said.
Despite the elimination of Fayette County's grant through what's known as the McKinney-Vento program, an effort to oversee and track assistance for homeless students, Fayette County superintendent Demetrius Liggins said support systems will remain in place.
"We took care of those kids well before we received that grant, and we're going to continue to take care of them now just as we always have," he said. "It was fortunate to get that short-term amount of extra funds, but they're certainly not a population that's being forgotten or being tossed out."
The axing of the local grant comes as the Trump administration makes moves toward dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, which runs the McKinney-Vento program. So far, School House Connection reports all federal education laws protecting children and youth who are homeless "remain in effect."
But further acts by congress could put the program in jeopardy.