How California schools can help solve student homelessness

Since elementary school, Malik experienced homelessness while attending Santa Monica public schools. He and his family moved often between shelters. Sometimes that meant toggling between Skid Row, the beach, and their family car when shelter space was unavailable. Recently, however, Malik, now a high school graduate, Santa Monica College student and young father, was finally able to do something unimaginable — put up his feet in his new permanent home.

That became possible through a partnership between the City of Santa Monica, Community Corporation of Santa Monica, and St. Joseph Center’s Youth Resource Team. The city’s new Berkeley Station modular housing development was designed specifically for young people connected to supportive services and Santa Monica schools.

Malik’s story reflects a growing reality across California: the housing crisis has become an educational crisis. Recently, UCLA’s Center for the Transformation of Schools released new data showing student homelessness in Los Angeles County rose nearly 30% between 2022–23 and 2023–24, outpacing both state and national increases. More than 61,000 students across Los Angeles County experienced homelessness last year alone. This new reality is driven largely by worsening housing affordability, rising rents, and the expiration of pandemic-era protections.

The McKinney-Vento Act acknowledges a simple truth: housing stability and educational success are deeply connected. Yet for thousands of California students, housing instability continues to disrupt attendance, learning, and access to the teachers, counselors, and support systems that are essential to academic success. 

If we are serious about improving educational outcomes, we must also be serious about addressing student homelessness and housing instability.

The affordability crisis is also destabilizing school districts themselves. California public school enrollment has declined by more than 300,000 students since 2019, resulting in billions of dollars in lost average daily attendance funding for school districts statewide. As rising housing costs push families out of their communities, districts are increasingly grappling with enrollment-driven fiscal challenges. 

But moments of crisis can also create opportunities. California school districts collectively own roughly 150,000 acres of public land statewide, much of it tied to campuses experiencing enrollment decline and changing space needs. The twin challenges — housing affordability and enrollment decline — create an opportunity for districts, municipal partners, and communities to rethink how public land can serve both students and schools.

Districts should seize this moment to reimagine school land not simply as educational infrastructure, but as community infrastructure. By partnering with affordable housing groups, local governments, and service organizations, school districts could transform underutilized properties into affordable housing for working families, transition-age youth, educators, and families experiencing homelessness. At a time when many districts are confronting an “empty desk” fiscal cliff, housing on school-connected land offers a rare opportunity to advance educational outcomes while strengthening the long-term health of the public school system.

The benefits also extend well beyond housing. Stable housing improves attendance, academic performance, and student well-being. For districts facing enrollment declines, affordable housing can help retain current students, attract new families, and strengthen the enrollment base that sustains school funding. Also, school districts would not be responsible for operating or managing these housing communities. This role would remain with experienced affordable housing developers and service providers, just as it does in successful school-housing partnerships across California.

California voters have already approved billions in housing and homelessness funding through Proposition 1 and the state’s Homekey+ program. Los Angeles County also created the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency (LACAHSA) to accelerate affordable housing production at scale. Local leaders should align these investments with underutilized school land to create affordable housing that stabilizes youth and their families.

This model is already emerging across California. LAUSD’s Selma Community Housing demonstrates how school-connected land can support working families in high-cost neighborhoods. In Hayward, Covenant House California partnered with local leaders, the Alameda County Office of Education, and Hayward Unified School District to create housing and supportive services for transition-age youth experiencing homelessness.

Lawmakers are increasingly recognizing the connection between housing and educational stability. Legislation such as AB 2295, authored by former Assemblymember Richard Bloom, and AB 2480, recently authored by Assemblymember Anamarie Ávila Farías, recognizes the growing connection between housing affordability and educational opportunity.

Today, housing stability and educational success are inextricably linked. If we are serious about improving educational outcomes, we must also be serious about addressing student homelessness and housing instability. Schools, affordable housing developers, community leaders, and the government have a unique opportunity to work together to work even closer to achieve collective results. Also, California has an opportunity to build a future where children are not forced to choose between having a home and remaining connected to the school communities that shape their lives.

•••

Ryan J. Smith, Ed.D., is the president and CEO of the St. Joseph Center, one of LA County’s largest homelessness and housing organizations.

Erika Hartman is the CEO of Safe Place For Youth, a nonprofit working to prevent and end youth homelessness. 

The opinions in this commentary are those of the authors.

EdSource is dedicated to covering in California and nationally. Other publications may republish EdSource articles, online or in print, at no charge, provided adherence to our guidelines. The embed code provided here includes a tracking pixel to enable us to measure the reach of our stories. It must be included in any online pickup of EdSource stories.

The following guidelines apply to all EdSource content, including stories, podcasts and video:

Editing stories: Trimming stories for length or adding additional localized reporting is allowed. However, if you wish to make material edits, please contact EdSource for approval prior to publication. Please reach out to Andrew and Smita at republish@edsource.org with questions.

Crediting EdSource: Authors and EdSource should be credited in the byline with a link back to the original article. (This is in the embed code. Please be sure to include it.)

Monetization: EdSource stories cannot be sold, but it’s OK to put EdSource articles on pages with ads.

Photos and graphics: Assets such as photos and graphics must be added manually. Photos taken by EdSource staff may be republished, but some images, such as those from third-party providers (Associated Press, iStock), may not be republished without permission or payment. Proceed with caution. You may also run your own photos with the EdSource story. On occasion, EdSource editors may be able to provide partners with embed codes for graphics or localized data. If you have questions, please contact us.

RSS Feeds: News organizations cannot systematically republish all EdSource articles via RSS feed or other mechanism.