Kentucky lawmakers have made education a top priority this legislative session and one of the areas of focus chronic absenteeism, with three bills aimed at making sure students show up for class.

One group vulnerable to high rates of truancy.

Students experiencing homelessness, but numbers from the National Center for Homeless Education show Kentucky has been making strides when it comes to homeless students and truancy.

In 2024, Kentucky had almost 88% graduation rate for students experiencing homelessness, compared to the national average of 69%.

The state also saw chronic absenteeism among homeless students drop by 8%.

We spoke to the Kentucky Department of Education's homeless Coordinator, Zach Stumbo, about the efforts to provide targeted, supportive interventions that help keep students in school and on track to graduate.

Housing instability is a big issue.

The lack of affordable housing a lot of times will.

When families are forced out of their home, they struggle to find somewhere that they could afford or that could hold a family of their size.

So any of the students who are missing the fixed, regular or nighttime residents, that could be students that are in hotels, motels, we have students that are living in shelters that weren't designed to be lived in.

We have students and families living in houses that maybe have suffered damage, substandard.

One of the most surprising, though, I would say, is the doubled up feature.

And it's not everyone that's living with another family.

It's not multigenerational housing.

It really is people who have lost their housing and had to move in with another friend or relative because of an economic issue.

They were evicted or their house burned down, something along that lines.

And when those families are pushed out, they become, they become eligible students under the Mckinney-vento act.

And what we tend to see is that the students are struggling academically.

They do miss a lot of school.

That's a big, subgroup and are chronically absent.

Student count at KDE.

We also know that they on whole, tend to graduate a little bit less often than their non homeless counterparts.

So often when students are experiencing homelessness, so much is changing in their personal life.

And sometimes there are issues of domestic violence going on at home.

Having the one person in the school district, the school liaison, having that one contact, really working to number one, maintain their school stability, make sure that they have everything they need to participate fully in school, participate fully in extracurricular, extracurricular activities.

It's so important to the students.

It's one of the best parts of the job.

When I hear about a student who was able to join an extracurricular that they wanted to do, or attend an educational program in the summer that you want that they wanted to do.

I hear about there is and that's some of the most fulfilling stuff.

I understand the different facets of, you know, living in someone else's home or living in a home that isn't up to code.

Things that aren't that aren't great at home.

And then I've also been responsible for myself at an early age while in school.

We call those unaccompanied homeless youths and they are particularly disadvantaged and at risk.

There's no adult guardian in their life.

They're physically separated.

And so I found that it it's a good way to share empathy with school districts and, bring people into wanting to support students that are experiencing homelessness.

The number one thing that I want everyone to understand is that students experiencing homelessness are a great investment for our time, our energy and our resources, and that this really is a program that benefits everyone.

Anyone could be at risk of a natural disaster or a fire.

And this program will help ensure that your child also has school stability.

This isn't, just for families that may be chronically homeless that we might think of typically, but really is a program that benefits everyone.

Stumbo was honored in November by the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth for his commitment to improving the educational outcomes for youth experiencing homelessness.