District Ready to Aid Affected Students

County officials Sunday afternoon reported that that struck Paulding County Friday night and early Saturday.

If any of those structures are homes of students in Paulding County Schools, and if the damage led to students and their families relocating, even on a temporary basis, school district officials are ready to assist those impacted pupils.

Under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, a child whose family loses their housing in a situation such as displacement caused by weather damage can be deemed homeless and qualify for several forms of assistance, such as tutoring, school supplies and referrals to agencies who can provide other forms of assistance.

“Our schools are very supportive of our students. We will accommodate those students and assist those students in any way possible, whether that be excusing their absences, working with the families,” Superintendent Cliff Cole told Dallas-Hiram Patch on Saturday. “There are a lot of resources that we have at the schools, so if a family’s in that situation and don’t have somewhere else to turn, they can always contact the school, the counselor at the school.

“Anytime there’s a loss of a home, whether it be due to a storm, tornado, fire—a student can be deemed homeless,” Cole added. “Our schools work really closely with several different organizations in the county to help students who have needs, whether it be food or clothing. [But it’s based on] making the school aware of those needs.”

Cole said extra counselors were expected to be on hand Monday at Poole Elementary, which sustained significant damage during the weekend’s severe weather .