Eviction impact on school-age children revealed
By: Joshua Sabatini
Examiner Staff Writer
March 27, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO — At least 76 families with school-age children were evicted from their homes in the previous year — most of them while school was in session.
Three years ago, the Board of Supervisors passed legislation signed by Mayor Gavin Newsom requiring the Rent Board to report the number of families with school-age children — those in kindergarten through 12th grade — who are evicted, and if those evictions occurred during the school year.
Now, two years into the reporting of those numbers, a clearer picture of how evictions are uprooting kids in school is starting to emerge.
For the first time, The City is capturing data of evictions affecting school-age children.
Between March 2008 and February 2009 there were 76 reported evictions of families with school-age children, of which 57 occurred during the school year, according to the Rent Board’s annual eviction report.
Between March 2007 and February 2008, the first time statistics were kept, there were 78 reported evictions of families with school-age children, of which 57 occurred during the school year.
A previous legislative analyst report found that students who change schools are less likely to graduate and often perform below their grade level.
Supervisor Eric Mar said he’s examining the impact of the evictions.
“We’re talking with families that are on the edge of being evicted or not being able to pay rent,” Mar said. “We are trying to figure out some legislative fixes — even just better tracking — so we can come up with some solutions.”
And while the number of evictions of families with kids seems small, it’s actually presumed to be larger. The Rent Board numbers come from voluntary information. The board collects the data from the filing of alleged wrongful eviction notices, and filers are asked to say if there are school-age children in the household.
The total number of evictions in the previous 12 months was 1,430, and 524 alleged wrongful evictions were filed with the Rent Board.
