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According to a 2009 study, four in 10 children in Milwaukee are poor. Milwaukee Public Schools is the largest school district in Wisconsin with an enrollment of 80,000 students 80 percent qualify for free or reduced-priced meals. More than 2,500 students have been identified as homeless.

Despite these figures, the school district has taken strides towards improving attendance rates and increasing outreach efforts to families and community agencies, and last year the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth recognized Milwaukee Public Schools for its outstanding school-based program in homeless education.

Milwaukee Public Schools has employed a homeless coordinator since 1987, although they mostly worked with shelters until the 2002 McKinney-Vento Act. During the 2011 fiscal year, the McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youths Grant allocated $63.6 million across the country, helping every state address the problems associated with student homelessness. In the Milwaukee School District, the McKinney-Vento grant, along with Title I funding, support three homeless coordinators, with the requirement that school districts remove all barriers to the educational process for homeless children and reach out to more homeless kids – including those who have sleeping arrangements that are not permanent or regular.

Catherine Klein is one of the homeless coordinators with the school district who oversees the programs of 180 schools.

According to Klein, each principal appoints someone in the school who identifies homeless families who are then enrolled in a database.

“We encourage homeless contacts to keep an eye on students so they can refer them to programs. To ensure that all school staff members know about it, we train homeless contacts every year,” she said. “Teachers usually know the children are homeless and give them extra time or a place to do homework projects in the classroom.”

Services provided by the program include free lunch, transportation, access to school supplies, as well as access to all other school programs like special education and tutoring. The coordinators also provide community resource guides to families, showing them how to obtain low cost healthcare, dental care, locations of shelters, food pantries and instructions on how to navigate the social service system.

Klein has seen the number of families served increase 15 to 20 percent every year – partly due to school personnel being more aware of the program, but also the economics of the area.

“Just today I saw three families with four kids each,” she said.

Lee Wackman is chairman of HL Palmer Masonic Angel Fund, which provides assistance to children in need, as requested from school principals. Wackman chartered the foundation in Milwaukee about four years ago.

One day this past winter, he went to an elementary school where he saw four children arrive with no coats, and after going from class to class, learned that 49 students came to school without jackets.

Within 24 hours, the Angel Fund acquired and brought in jackets for all of them.

In addition to clothing, the foundation delivers 500 to 1,000 hygiene kits at a time to schools, containing a toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, soap, deodorant and a laundry bag with a note that says “touched by an angel.”

“Why do I do this?” Wackman said. “I’ve been blessed in my life – I have seven grandchildren. If something happened to me, I would like someone to be there for them.”

Wackman knew a 16-year-old student whose counselor from school called saying he had been wearing the same clothes for three months. He took him to a department store to buy some nice casual clothing for school. The student told Wackman he had been living in a friend’s basement and had wanted a Christmas for the past two years.

The boy said, “You just gave me a Christmas.”

East Detroit Public Schools board member Jon Gruenberg is saying that a comment he made about “white flight” from Eastpointe if the schools there opened its doors beyond Macomb County is being taken out of context.

At Monday’s meeting, Gruenberg was one of two board members to vote against making EDPS a district of choice for all of Michigan. The other member to vote against the proposal was his son, Jon G. Gruenberg.

But the elder Gruenberg was vocal about his concerns over the decision prior to the vote. “Schools of choice, I think, does absolutely nobody any good,” he said. “We have seen the second wave of white flight because of these districts of choice.”

, Gruenberg explained the “white flight” comment to C&G Newspapers:

C&G, March 14: “I was speaking in general about schools of choice, where in general white flight has occurred,’ Gruenberg said. “I was just stating what has occurred in the past, in our district and in others, not that it will happen further. At least I hope it wont. I hope most of the people who think that way have already left our city. But could it happen in the future? Maybe. Maybe not.”

East Detroit Public Schools is looking to bring back Eastpointe residents who have left for neighboring Macomb County districts, but is in also in a rare position to pick up students departing from the city of Detroit’s two public school systems: Detroit Public Schools and the newly established Education Achievement Authority.

As for the city of Eastpointe itself, its minority population has noticeably grown over the last decade. Like most inner-ring Detroit suburbs, its black population has grown from 4.7 to 29.5 percent from 2000 to 2010, and its Hispanic population has grown 1.3 percent to 2.1 percent.

Three brothers were charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct today after an incident at Kiser Middle, police said.

Police released few details of what happened, other than a family of four came to the school at 716 Benjamin Parkway about 2 p.m. and two teenage boys pushed past teachers to get into the school. School officials locked down the school until its regular 3:05 p.m. closing time.

Police did not say why the group came to the school. However, Guilford County Schools spokeswoman Nora Carr said they came because they were upset about an alleged incident between a relative and another Kiser student that occurred earlier Tuesday.  

Police did not release the names of the four family members involved to protect the identity of a juvenile male involved in the case. The family is related to a Kiser Middle School student, said Susan Danielsen, spokeswoman for the Greensboro police.

Police arrested the 17- and 19-year-olds involved and took them to the Guilford County jail. They were released into the custody of a parent, Danielsen said. According to court records, the boys ripped off their shirts, slammed doors, cursed and refused to leave the school when told by School Resource Officer A. M. Anderson.

The youngest boy, 15, was not taken to jail, but was released into the custody of a parent, Danielsen said. The mother, who reportedly accompanied the boys to the school, did not enter the school and was not charged, she said.

Greensboro police and the school district said no weapons were involved in the incident. No principals, teachers or students were harmed, according to Danielsen.

“The school was placed on lockdown as a safety precaution, to keep Kiser students and staff safe; and to keep anyone else from getting involved in the situation,” Carr wrote in an email.

The Guilford County Schools safety director will be at Kiser in the morning as an added precaution, Carr said. If parents have any questions or concerns, they can

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Alcohol functions as both a pleasurable drink and a type of medicine. Medical people and the government classify it as the most common legal drug. The brew began in the Stone Age and proof comes in the form of 10,000 year old beer jugs. Ayurvedic texts from India concluded alcohol had a dual purpose. If consumed in moderation, the alcohol becomes medicinal, but if consumed in large quantities in a short period, it becomes a poison. That philosophy is still with us today.

Just the Facts

The crux of the problem today, is the amount of alcohol taken in and the age of drinking. According to the National Institute of Health, 40% of the traffic deaths happen because of alcohol. In addition, those under the age of 21 are affected by alcohol even more so because the brain has not fully matured yet. The good news is the policies targeting 16 to 20 year olds in the 1980′s has resulted in a decrease from about 5,000 deaths a year to a little over 2,000 deaths a year. Leaving the drinking age at 21 has had a positive effect on the community and teenagers.

How Blood Alcohol Content is Determined

When blood alcohol content becomes 0.08 percent on the breath analyzer test, then the law defines one as legally drunk. What this number means is, in 100 millilitre of blood there is 8 liquid grams that is alcohol. When alcohol becomes metabolized by the body some of it leaks into your breath as ethanol. The medical device created estimates the amount of ethanol in one’s exhaled breath. The device does this with electrochemical cells that detect the ethanol and the standard is based on a well established and researched blood to breath ratio.

Once Caught

Once one becomes pulled over for a possible DUI, refusing a breath test is essentially an admittance of guilt. The officer in charge issues a ticket. His or her observations on driving behavior and the other motor skill tests given becomes the premier evidence in a case. Not taking the breath analyzer test is not an advantage in court. Conditions do exist that mimic drunk driving behavior. Reactions to medications, diabetic episodes and even some types of dementia manifest similar behavior. When a case is presented in court the following factors are considered how tired you are, medications taken, known medical conditions, amount of alcohol if taken and the percentage of alcohol in the blood. When hiring a lawyer to deal with a citation for drunk driving, make sure it is someone you are comfortable enough to tell these types of detailed personal information to.

Life Happens

These types of incidents do occur in one’s life or a loved one’s life. Instead of focusing on the sin, people and institutions need to focus on how to resolve or heal the issues. Humans make choices and make mistakes. Offering real help is the best way to take care of issues and people.