Miles Park Principal William J. Bauer and other heads of Cleveland elementary schools that experience mobility can only guess why students frequently transfer in and out of their schools. In most cases, the district does not keep records on why students are withdrawn from school. School leaders point to income and family instability as primary culprits. Loss of income often means families must move from their houses or apartments. Changes in child custody or guardianship also can cause movement.
Some children transfer schools after being placed in foster care.
Then there s homelessness. For example, Kentucky and Case elementary schools serve students in nearby homeless and battered women s shelters. Families living at the Zelma George Homeless Shelter attend Miles Park, A.B. Hart Middle and South High School. Families can stay only 14 days unless they receive an extension from the shelter, shelter officials say. Welfare reform also plays an increasingly important role in homelessness and school instability.