Dobie: Open arms for homeless children

No child wants to be homeless. It's lousy. The sudden instability can wound even the most grounded of children. That's what makes the lingering controversy over the placement of a large shelter for homeless families in the Hauppauge school district so disappointing.

When some children at the shelter began attending Hauppauge schools in September, parents complained loudly and often. In truth, we would have seen a similar reaction in many Long Island districts had the shelter opened there. How refreshing it would have been had they opened their metaphorical arms and proclaimed their willingness to help.

Instead, the reaction from some parents has been that educating these children is an "unfair" burden on Hauppauge. Some of the concerns are legitimate. Some early complaints had a lamentable but unmistakable racial tone, and were quickly denounced by other residents. Hauppauge's administration, to its credit, has done a good job of minimizing disruptions, welcoming the children and educating them amid the swirl of protest. Yet the controversy drags on.

Much of the complaining -- especially early on -- came from parents at Forest Brook Elementary School, after officials sensibly decided to keep all of the younger children together and send them there. By "all" we mean about 10, at least at first. The number of homeless students in Hauppauge has fluctuated, and the accounting has been a bone of contention between county and school officials. In the early fall, there were 24 children from the shelter in Hauppauge schools overall, compared to 19 in 2012-13.

Whatever estimates are used, the number of homeless children attending school in Hauppauge is higher but not significantly higher than last year. And it doesn't seem to constitute an unfair burden for a district with some 4,000 students.

As for the financial strain, the state reimburses Hauppauge for the per-pupil cost of educating homeless children from other districts and for transportation costs. The district must foot part of the bill for out-of-state students -- typically former Suffolk County residents returning home -- but unless the numbers are large they are absorbed into existing classes without having to add teachers, counselors and the like. Also worth noting: the shelter property owner paid $83,582 in school taxes last year.

Hauppauge officials and parents also worry about the consequences should a higher number of children in the 96-family shelter choose to go to Hauppauge schools. Under federal law, they can pick their home district or the shelter district. In reality, most homeless children choose to remain in their home district. That's what's happened in Hauppauge.

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It's important to understand the big picture, too. Homelessness has skyrocketed in Suffolk. The number of children homeless at any point in a school year rose from 3,191 in 2009-10 to nearly 5,000 last year.

Faced with that increase and the need to cut spending overall, Suffolk started to move away from its system of small scattered shelters and opened two larger facilities -- in Brentwood and Hauppauge -- modeled after the one operating in North Bellport since 1990. More cost-effective and offering better services -- such as information and referral services, and full day care for parents trying to find jobs and housing -- they simply are better at getting people back to self-sufficiency.

Even with the large facilities, homeless children still are being educated in school districts throughout Suffolk. We all have a role to play in helping them and their families through difficult times -- some more, some less. It would be far more ennobling to embrace that responsibility than complain about the load.

Michael Dobie is a member of the Newsday editorial board.