Advocates to Fayette schools: Don’t eliminate staff jobs that help 1,000 homeless students

Advocates concerned that Fayette County Public Schools is eliminating staff positions for those who work with the district’s 1,000 homeless students launched a campaign Wednesday to stop the cuts.

There are concerns the district will slash staff by two-thirds, according to a news release from a group that includes Ginny Ramsey, the director of the Catholic Action Center.

That group provides such homeless services as a program called “Give Kids A Home.”

Ramsey said there are currently two part-time and one full-time positions that oversee services to homeless students. They do such things as provide school supplies, arrange transportation, allocate supplies for food, provide clothing and laundry, set-up tutoring and interact with state and federal agencies.

She said school district officials plan to reduce the staff down to one part-time person in the 2025-26 budget.

Fayette district officials would not confirm the specific position cuts. But in a statement, Dedeeh Newbern, District Chief Student Support Services Officer, said that last spring, Fayette County schools did not receive the McKinney-Vento federal grant that is awarded at the state level.

“Fayette County applied for the grant during the last grant cycle at the end of the ‘23-’24 school year. The Kentucky Department of Education notified us that we were not one of the selected districts for the grant in the spring of 2024,” Newbern said.

“Even without the grant, FCPS has been and remains committed to supporting our students who are experiencing housing insecurities and continuing to serve those students using systems and structures we have in place. We will continue to do so as we move into the 25-26 schools year.”

She added, “The number of students identified as housing insecure fluctuates throughout each school year. At this time, our numbers remain between 950-1,000 students with a final count not available until we close out the ‘24-’25 school year.”

Newbern said Fayette County Public Schools will continue to work with students, families and community partners to support the needs of students.

“Our collective goal is to create a collaborative community where all students achieve at high levels. With the support of our community, we have and will continue to support our students who experience housing insecurities to achieve at high levels,” Newbern said.

Fayette County Schools received $176,897 from the McKinney-Vento grant in the 2023-2024 school year, according to state records, and had received it in previous years.

“The size of the student homeless population is only one of the many factors that the independent scorers consider when evaluating grant applications. Funds were awarded in accordance with the ranking of applications based on the final score,” said Kentucky Department of Education spokesperson Jennifer Ginn.

The district is working to finalize a working budget of more than $800 million for 2025-2026 with a school board vote planned for May.

The advocates are asking people to contact Fayette school board members and lobby them to not cut staff and continue the funding. They want supporters to attend either the district planning meeting at 5:30 p.m. April 17th or the 6 p.m. April 28th action meeting.

Whit Whitaker, president of the Lexington-Fayette NAACP, said his group is asking “that staff and resources not only remain in place, but we vehemently support an increase in adequate funding to ensure homeless children and youth have access to education and related services, including immediate enrollment and school stability, and actively monitoring its implementation.”

This story was originally published April 9, 2025 at 5:41 PM.