The exact numbers can be hard to pin down, but there are homeless students throughout Kenosha County.

“And I suspect the numbers in every district are going up,” said Thomas Baba, principal at Central High School in Paddock Lake.

Schools track the number of homeless students for practical reasons; they have to know who is coming in and out of the school district.

But the challenges students face at home can translate into the classroom, so while districts are legally required to chart student housing, it’s also in the district’s best interest.

An exact number wasn’t available, but Baba estimated that as many as a dozen students in his school might be homeless.

“I would say that our homeless numbers have increased. We’ve seen a heckuva economic downturn,” Baba said. “There are some cases we don’t even know about, plain and simple don’t know about because kids don’t want to say anything. They’re embarrassed.”

So are their families.

“There are families who refuse to go on free or reduced lunch because of pride,” Baba said. “They struggle like heck to feed kids. It’s really a struggle out there. ... I can tell you about it, but people are living through it.”

Numbers on the rise

The number of homeless students has increased in the Kenosha Unified School District.

Of the district’s 23,019 students, 291 were homeless in November, said Carlos Frick, the district’s homeless liaison.

In September, 214 students were considered homeless. One year before, that number was 180. The year before that it was 203.

To be fair, the way school districts are allowed to define homelessness is a bit broader than the way it is defined by federal housing authorities.

“For them, homeless is pretty much in the street and in shelters. For us, homelessness is living in the street and in shelters, but also we consider people who are doubled-up and tripled-up (in the same home) as homeless,” Frick said.

However, Frick explained, “It’s not just saying that you’re double-up. That doesn’t necessarily qualify. We have to look at what conditions you live in.”

If a family cannot pay rent, they can be considered homeless, even if they technically have a home in which to stay.

Just as if a family does not have electricity or heat, they can be considered homeless because the family lacks a “regular, fixed and adequate nighttime residence,” another guideline for homelessness established under federal law.

Referrals from shelters

To keep track of the number of homeless students, the district relies on parents to report their housing status, but also gets referrals from shelters and social workers.

“I also get information from the shelters themselves, from Shalom Center, from First Step (Services Inc.), from Walking in My Shoes,” Frick said. “Once they’re providing services, that’s a homeless situation.”

Frick meets with all the families of KUSD homeless students. District administrators and school counselors also went through training recently, since they too encounter families in crisis.

“Most of our families have been at the poverty line for a while and this was the final punch,” Frick said.

The situation for those middle class families has been heightened not only because they have lost their homes, but also because they never thought they would be in such positions.

“Those who have been poor and have been hurting for a while are hurting a little more, but now we have people who are not skilled in this situation and are suffering the same situation,” Frick said. “There’s a message to be sent: anybody can be in this situation.”