Homeless Encampments on School Grounds

[Pink Partridge]

Middle school students will have to walk through the encampment to get to school. In fact, the homeless now line the entrance to the school’s gym. Human waste, needles, and garbage will welcome these children each morning.

School board members don't want the encampments removed. That seems normal


https://mynorthwest.com/2745058/ran...not-sweep-homeless-encampments-from-schools/?
https://komonews.com/news/local/as-...meless-encampments-at-2-schools-stir-concerns
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattl...an-50-after-covid-pandemic-began-survey-says/

 

[Pink Partridge]

Homeless also camping out on Little League fields. I feel sorry for these kids.

https://www.q13fox.com/news/local-little-league-says-children-are-threatened-at-seattle-parks

 

[cvjw]

So glad we don’t live there.

 

[HiStitch626]

It's a tragic situation made worse by the pandemic. People who are marginalized need a safe space, but that is difficult to accommodate, particularly if the shelters are seen as unsafe due to COVID. It seems that some people began to tent in these locations while the schools were closed, and now that they are reopening there is an issue. I am not advocating that people tent along the entrance to a school area, but there needs to be a place for them to go.

 

[Pink Partridge]

So glad we don’t live there.

It would be very upsetting to see children not being protected.

From what I am reading, the homeless people are being offered services and shelter. They refuse. They prefer encampments.

Why would they be given a choice if it isn't their property?

 

[Pink Partridge]

....but there needs to be a place for them to go.

There is a place for them to go. But they would have to follow rules. They don't want that.

 

[J'aime Paris]

It's a tragic situation made worse by the pandemic. People who are marginalized need a safe space, but that is difficult to accommodate, particularly if the shelters are seen as unsafe due to COVID. It seems that some people began to tent in these locations while the schools were closed, and now that they are reopening there is an issue. I am not advocating that people tent along the entrance to a school area, but there needs to be a place for them to go.

I agree with this...
But I think the safety of the children, at their school, has to be the first priority in this situation.

 

[usnuzuloose]

That is hard to imagine the law would allow them to camp at schools. That seems very dangerous.

 

[HiStitch626]

There is a place for them to go. But they would have to follow rules. They don't want that.

That is a very simplistic statement for a much larger issue. You seem to be assuming that all marginalized people fit into one category of people who "don't want to follow rules". This isn't the case at all. All major urban areas, and many suburban and exurban areas, have a lack of services and personnel to meet the needs of people who are marginalized.

 

[fortwildernessishome]

Middle school students will have to walk through the encampment to get to school. In fact, the homeless now line the entrance to the school’s gym. Human waste, needles, and garbage will welcome these children each morning.

School board members don't want the encampments removed. That seems normal
s/[/URL]

I only read your first linked article, but from what I read the School board very cleary DO want the encampment removed! They are literally reaching out for help in having the camp removed. What they don't want is a "sweep". I don't really know what a "sweep" is, but I can guess. The school board has said while they want it removed, they don't want a "sweep"

Sounds like a terrible situation and obviously no one would want their kids to walk by those conditions.

 

[KingAugie]

Marginalized or not homeless encampments should not be allowed on school grounds.
A sweep is a forced move of them. That is exactly what should be done if school is in session. In this situation you have to pick someone to be "for" and the school board should be for the students of those schools.

 

[kanerf]

Perhaps all of the parents and teachers should show up in mass and protest the camps until the local government decides to take action. Protests seem to be the only thing that has any value in our current environment.

 

[Sanchez]

I only read your first linked article, but from what I read the School board very cleary DO want the encampment removed! They are literally reaching out for help in having the camp removed. What they don't want is a "sweep". I don't really know what a "sweep" is, but I can guess. The school board has said while they want it removed, they don't want a "sweep"

Sounds like a terrible situation and obviously no one would want their kids to walk by those conditions.

You are just playing word games. The Mayor's office is stating that 1) Resources are being offered; 2) It can take a very long time for people to voluntarily accept these resources; 3) Some will NEVER accept them unless they are removed (i.e. the "sweeps.)

The school board's priority should be the students. It seems as if they want to provide those in encampments with the option of staying as long as they like.

 

[lifesavacation]

I'm sorry but I'm not at all sympathetic to the homeless encampment. At no time has it ever been OK to use drugs and discard needles on a school campus. They need to move ASAP. Schools should remain a safe place for our children, and the school board's first priority should always be the safety of our children. If a "sweep" is the only way to remove the encampment prior to the children returning, then that's what should be done.

 

[fortwildernessishome]

You are just playing word games. The Mayor's office is stating that 1) Resources are being offered; 2) It can take a very long time for people to voluntarily accept these resources; 3) Some will NEVER accept them unless they are removed (i.e. the "sweeps.)

The school board's priority should be the students. It seems as if they want to provide those in encampments with the option of staying as long as they like.

Not playing "word games", ha, ha!! I literally wrote what the article stated!! The school board wants the camp gone, but doesnt want a "sweep"

School board members don't want the encampments removed. That seems normal

As for "word games" the above comment qualifies!! "School board members don't want the encampments removed"........uh, NO where in the article did it say that the school board members don't want it removed. They want it removed, they have reached out for help to have it removed. They have requested a way in which they want it removed!

I totally agree that the camp needs to be removed! Just felt it was disingenuous to state that the "school board members don't want the encampments removed". From what I read in the first article, they do want it removed!

But by all means, carry on!!

 

[ford91exploder]

That is a very simplistic statement for a much larger issue. You seem to be assuming that all marginalized people fit into one category of people who "don't want to follow rules". This isn't the case at all. All major urban areas, and many suburban and exurban areas, have a lack of services and personnel to meet the needs of people who are marginalized.

The majority of the homeless population have psychiatric issues, The united states threw the baby out with the bathwater when we closed nearly all the state psychiatric hospitals, No the majority of the mentally ill do not require long term hospitalization (and yes we do have a family member with schizophrenia - most of the time the family member lives in a cabin in the woods and we take turns ensuring at a distance his well being but this is far more than most get) as one family member who owns woodlots allows him to stay there. But occasionally he does need professional help and it's darn near impossible to get it.

And then there is the fraction of people who do need permanent round the clock care these are the people most likely to become homeless because they don't take their medications or keep appointments with community mental health centers.

We have a rail trail nearby that has become unusable because of a encampment of mentally ill people and you get stuff like boards with nails buried on the trail, wires and trees laid across the trail or holes dug in the trail. Yes they want to be left alone but the way they go about it is dangerous to everyone

I don't really know what the answer is but resources have to be directed towards the mentally ill and some of them need to be confined against their will, comfortably with the most freedoms possible but yes confined to an institution devoted to taking care of them, Jailing them like we do now is NOT the answer.

And yes there are homeless for other reasons, Just visit silicon valley and all the cars and RV's along side streets - because local building codes dont allow for the construction of reasonably priced housing.

 

[Colleen27]

Marginalized or not homeless encampments should not be allowed on school grounds.
A sweep is a forced move of them. That is exactly what should be done if school is in session. In this situation you have to pick someone to be "for" and the school board should be for the students of those schools.

A sweep is more than a forced move. It is a police presence forcing the people out of the park/encampment, usually without advance notice, followed by a clean up that involves throwing out everything that the people there couldn't gather up fast enough and carry when being herded out. Sweeps strip the homeless of their few possessions, particularly of tents, tarps, sleeping mats, and whatever other makeshift shelter they might have set up, while doing nothing to solve the actual problem of homelessness. They're just left to start over, still homeless and now homeless with nothing but the clothes on their backs. I can completely understand why the school board would want to see more humane means used to relocate the homeless people living in that camp.

 

[HeatherC]

I'm sorry but I'm not at all sympathetic to the homeless encampment. At no time has it ever been OK to use drugs and discard needles on a school campus. They need to move ASAP. Schools should remain a safe place for our children, and the school board's first priority should always be the safety of our children. If a "sweep" is the only way to remove the encampment prior to the children returning, then that's what should be done.

I totally agree. Not to mention that it is a safety issue. Many homeless suffer from mental health issues and need help. But we can’t run the risk of someone doing something crazy or violent with children so close at hand.

 

[AndreaA]

I don’t understand why there is any hesitation with sending the police in and removing everyone. There are drug free zones around schools. This is a no-brainer. If it was just a bunch of junkies shooting up on the playground, they would have been arrested on day one. Is it the most humane way to deal with the homeless? Nope, definitely not. Is the safety of the children who go to the school more important than finding another way to move those homeless people? Yes, definitely yes.

It’s tragic that people feel forced to live like this, but they are not going to solve all the issues in a day or a week or a month, and meanwhile those KIDS need a safe place to go to school and be NORMAL, especially after the last year!

 

[lifesavacation]

I also wonder if the schools in question serve mostly poor and/or minority students. We should care as much about those students as those in the affluent areas. This would never be allowed in Mercer Island or Bellevue.