LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A high school principal is expressing safety concerns over the number of homeless encampments located a few feet away from campus.
Adjacent to Spring Valley High School near Buffalo and Flamingo roads is Spring Valley Community Park.
Tara Powell, principal of Spring Valley High, told 8 News Now the proximity of tents and camps near her campus poses a safety risk.
“I’m afraid that a kid is just going to come down here and just, wrong time, wrong place, and get hurt,” Powell said on Friday.
8 News Now toured the high school’s campus with Powell who pointed out the damage caused near the baseball field.
“They’ve got a dozen doughnuts. A bike. An air mattress,” Powell said as she peered through the fence near student lockers.
Two weeks ago, Spring Valley High administrators found a person living inside a shelter used by students on the baseball team.
“Too close for comfort on our property. Like these kids deserve better. They deserve to have a safe learning environment and right now this is a concern,” Powell said.
The park has attracted the homeless before, but the population grew over the summer, according to Powell.
At one point during the interview, a man living inside a tent under a tree began yelling at 8 News Now crews in an aggressive manner.
“None of you have permission to film me,” the man was heard saying.
The man started to leave and made his way towards 8 News Now crews however, Clark County School District police arrived and he left the park.
“I’m just afraid a kid will do something or say something, wrong place, wrong time, and that’s the type of reaction they’ll get,” Powell said. “They’ll get hurt. That just scares me.”
Some of the homeless have broken onto campus. Powell said they caught one living inside the concession stand. Issues at Spring Valley Community Park have also led to soft lockdowns.
On Tuesday, Clark County Commissioners passed an ordinance that strengthens the county’s camping ban. Among the many enforcement tools, it gives officers the power to arrest or cite a person who refuses to go to a homeless shelter.
“My granddaughters and I’ve said this publicly before, they cannot walk to school because they have to walk over the homeless to get to school,” Clark County Commissioner Marylin Kirkpatrick said on Tuesday.
Powell said she doesn’t know if jail is the right answer.
“We got to get to the root cause, right? So arresting, like I get it, but what’s the root cause? What do they need, so they’re not living in our parks? They don’t want to be living there either, right?”
The City of Las Vegas also passed a similar ordinance banning homeless encampments. Powell said every year, she warns her students to avoid walking through the park.
