NUMBER OF HOMELESS STUDENTS IN SOUTH FLORIDA SOARS

In downtown Miami, dozens of elementary school children spill out of Overtown's largest homeless shelter for a ride to and from school. In Homestead, a high school student hides her head beneath a hooded sweat shirt every time she walks into her temporary home -- mortified at having to live in a shelter -- while in a Pompano Beach shelter, an 8-year-old boy tries to adjust to his new surroundings. And in Northwest Miami-Dade, a 12-year-old girl who lives in a wall-less outdoor fruit stand -- and bathes herself by spigot -- does her homework in a nearby flea market food court. These are among the increasing number of South Florida homeless students -- children living in shelters, motels, cars, relatives' homes and on the streets because their parents lost their homes to foreclosures or evictions. Miami-Dade leads the state in the number of homeless students at 2,382 -- more than enough to fill an entire school, according to state figures. That's an 8 percent jump in the number of homeless students from the 2006-2007 school year. Broward experienced a slight drop in the number of homeless students with 1,642 identified last school year, compared to more than 1,200 students so far this year. But officials expect the number will be much higher. ''We're going to see around 3,000 students this year, I think, or certainly 2,500,'' said Dianne Sepielli, coordinator for Broward's homeless student program. The increasing trend is mirrored statewide. Records show the state has seen a sharp rise in recent years in the number of students identified by their districts as homeless, jumping to 34,375 last school year from 16,430 in 2003-2004. The student homeless figure for 2006-2007 was 30,878, compared to 29,545 in 2005-2006 and 28,805 in 2004-2005. Administrators say the numbers could be much higher because not all students report they're homeless. For many of these students, homelessness has rattled their worlds. The shelter kids say they appreciate the roof above them. But they also concede they must contend with an alien environment rife with strict rules, tinderbox tempers and petty theft. Then there's the stigma of being without a home of one's own -- and, teenagers say, the fear of being outed and picked on. ''I don't want my friends to find out,'' said a 14-year-old who moved into an Overtown shelter last month after his father lost his truck driving job and then their Little Havana apartment.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/br...ory/900535.html

STUDENTS GETTING FREE, REDUCED MEALS ON THE RISE

http://www.theledger.com/article/20090212/...d_Meals_On_Rise
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Thanks to Mark Pudlow for the clip and the leads.