Poverty's impact reaches deep into Sonoma County classrooms

The shift in poverty levels at Santa Rosa elementary schools has been profound.

At Biella Elementary on Jennings Avenue, a quarter of families were considered poor in 1999. This year, 66 percent of families qualify for a free lunch - a 160 percent jump.

Major changes for the school include the construction of a subsidized housing complex on Marlow Road and the evolution of middle-class houses into homes that now house multiple families, Principal Winnie Hogoboom said.

That change has played out in the classroom, with fewer parents able to volunteer during the day because of job conflicts or a lack of confidence in their own educational background, she said.

In some cases, teachers have stepped in to provide materials and after-school support for standard projects, such as building a model of a California Mission, and others have stopped assigning such parent-intense projects altogether.

First-grade teachers said they have had to modify a standard assignment that asks students to write descriptively about their own bedroom.

"Many of them do not have their own bedroom or the whole family might be in a room," Hogoboom said of the school's 526 students. "So they have changed it to, &‘Write about the room where you sleep,' to try to be sensitive to the fact that many children and families are living in shared quarters."

At Helen Lehman Elementary, 92 percent of the school's 570 students are considered poor by federal standards - an increase of 48 percent since 1999.

Still, Principal Bev Jones said the percentages might be too low to reflect the reality that her families face.

"Since October, we have had more parents coming in," she said of free-lunch application process. "Parents who had always paid for lunch before, now they are coming in with applications."

Hardships affect children in the classroom, Jones said.

"I have at least four students that I'm thinking of right now that were some of our top, proficient students in the school - and their parents, their families have been going through different hardships," she said.

"The teachers see a huge change in the child," she said. "It affects them personally, it affects them emotionally and it affects them academically. School is really a respite for many of these kids."

District Trustee Laura Gonzalez said in many cases, high poverty is linked to students still learning English, adding to the challenges for students and schools.

"It has a lot of repercussions for the district in terms of serving these needy children," she said. "Those things go hand in hand. You have children with greater need and then the school not scoring as high on their standardized tests as the government wants them to."

Among the eight elementary schools considered high poverty by the federal government, only Luther Burbank does not face program improvement under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

At schools where poverty has long been an issue, teachers have learned to look for signs of hunger in students, said Nicole Lamare, principal at Lincoln Elementary where 95 percent of the school's 370 students qualify for free and reduced lunch, up from 89 percent 10 years ago.

Lincoln is among the eight out of 10 elementary campuses that offers a free breakfast or morning snack in addition to lunch. The cafeteria is full every morning, Lamare said.

Even at schools that fall well below the district average, financial hardship is becoming more apparent.

"Some parents who used to be able to give a lot of time haven't been able to because of their job situation," said Proctor Terrace Principal Stephen Mayer. "We've got volunteers who had to go back to work full time."

Twenty-seven percent of Proctor Terrace's 445 students qualify for a free or reduced lunch, up from 18 percent in 1999.

The school with the lowest level of impoverished households, Hidden Valley, has seen its rate grow from 13 percent in 1999 to 18 percent currently - a 38.5 percent jump.

Gonzalez said the level of poverty among students in Sonoma County's largest school district demands a deeper look into the county's job market and financial health.

"When you think of Sonoma County, certainly you don't think of poverty," she said. "Kids come with a lot of needs, it's not just teaching them their ABCs. As our student population changes, how we teach them has to change, too."