Fayette school board members can help our most vulnerable students with one vote | Opinion

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” Frederick Douglass

It’s not often we have an opportunity to choose an affordable, effective, life-altering program that impacts children in our community. Fayette County Public Schools has that opportunity now with the choice to fully fund and maintain the staffing of the McKinney Vento Program (MVP) that was established in 1987.

MVP is an impactful homeless education assistance program: in the 24-25 school year it has identified and provided hope and support for over 1,065 FCPS students from kindergarten through high school who are experiencing homelessness. The program helps students who are experiencing a life of fear, anxiety and often shame, as they struggle to attend school and receive the great gift of life altering education.

In 2023, chronic absenteeism among FCPS students experiencing homelessness was 49.1%, the graduation rate of these students was reported as 70-79% while the overall graduation rate in FCPS was 90%.

The McKinney Vento Program is essential in our public schools as it provides educational support, transportation, school supplies, tutoring, and coordination with community partners who provide food, clothing, shelter, and a path for the families to secure a permanent home.

To date in the 24-25 school year, MVP staff has coordinated stable emergency housing for over 425 students and their families with community partners funding and managing the secure and safe housing for the students. In addition, more than 145 families with more than 500 FCPS students have received support for permanent housing through the coordination and connection of the MVP staff.

This year, 10 MVP 12th graders have received college scholarships to continue their education and leave the life of homelessness behind them. This scholarship program was developed by the MVP staff and funded by community partners.

The current staffing of the MVP is 1 full time director and 2 part time coordinators. They do heroic work for our children. The FCPS Board will decide which MVP staff positions to fund for the 25-26 school year. Regardless of federal or state grants, we as community partners, activists and tax paying concerned citizens are asking that we locally fund all three positions to care for our children.

To cut any of these positions will jeopardize a program that has built a community network which requires the MVP coordination in order to be effective and efficient. We ask our FCPS Board members to do the right thing. The choice is simple: fully fund the staffing of a successful program that provides the support for our most vulnerable children. This will cost less than .0005 of the property taxes we pay to FCPS and less than .00021 of the total budget–less than $200,000. More than $800,000.00 in community partner support is provided to the students and their families with no cost to FCPS.

The FCPS Board will have a School Board planning meeting at 5:30 pm on Monday May 12 at the FCPS Central Office 450 Park Place 40511. Have your voice heard by calling or emailing your elected FCPS Board member or attend the Planning Meeting.

Don’t be silent: the time is now to do the right thing and fully fund the McKinney Vento Program.

Fayette County Board Members FCPS Board Members c/o Superintendent’s Office 450 Park Place Lexington KY 40511

Monica Mundy, PhD serving District 1 monica.mundy@fayette.kyschools.us 859.629-0022

Tyler Murphy serving district 2 tyler.murphy@fayette.kyschools.us 859.368.6570

Penny Christian serving district 3 penny.christian@fayette.kyschools.us 859. 299.9525

Amanda Ferguson serving district 4 amanda.ferguson@fayette.kyschools.us 859.509.9187

Amy Green, Vice Chair, District 5 amy.green@fayette.kyschools.us 859.227.2374

This letter was also signed by Whit Whitaker, President, Lexington-Fayette NAACP; Ginny Ramsey, Catholic Action Center; Tayna Fogle, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth; Lisa Maggio, RN, PhD, Catholic Action Center Connector; Meg Haist, PhD, Former Education Foundation Director, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth; KY120 United AFT-Fayette; James Woodhead, FCPS Teacher, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth & KY120 United AFT-Fayette; Laura Babbage, Catholic Action Center Chaplain; James “Jamie” Palumbo, Retired Dive Coach, Community Activist; Connie Hubbard, Catholic Action Center Connector, Retired Mental Health Nurse; Davita Gatewood, Empowering Through Education; Jenny Collins, RN, MRC, Catholic Action Center; Laura Hartke, Community Member and Former FCPS Teacher; Missy Hagans, Retired Educator; Kelly Stein, Catholic Action Center, Give Kids A Home; Carrie Berend, Give Kids A Home, Community Connector Coordinator.