Wheres the compassion for Broadview-Thomson students?
For months, parents have begged Seattle Public School officials to move a homeless encampment thats been disrupting the Broadview-Thomson K-8 school day. Call the city. There is nothing we can do. Parents have sent photos of needles and tents along the path students once walked to get to class. And of rats and weapons, apparent drug deals and prostitution. District officials maintain they have made the school campus as safe as possible and say they dont have the expertise or resources to clear district property. That is absurd and, frankly, false. No sweeps has been the districts mantra ever since school board President Chandra Hampson and Operations Committee Chair Zachary DeWolf demanded the city offer services to campers back in March. But most parents arent asking for a sweep. They just want campers to move farther from the building, where they had been before moving onto district property last summer. Just the minimum, said parent Ocean Greens, whose fourth and sixth graders go to Broadview-Thomson. For the kids, so they can be safe going to school.  Advertising  This reasonable request isnt coming from a bunch of NIMBYS. A high proportion of Broadview-Thomson students come from low-income households. Students of color make up more than half the student body, which includes immigrants from all over the globe. The district could have fixed the problem before these students came back to campus in April. District officials have chosen not to, under the guise of compassion. A statement forwarded by district spokesman Tim Robinson says school leaders are working for a more durable solution than simply moving the camp off district property. Walking to school along busy Greenwood Avenue is just the start. Security concerns arising from the encampments proximity have forced students to shelter in place as recently as last Thursday. Parents say two camp residents have died from overdose. Greens said his children saw one of the bodies in the street.