Sex workers spotted in homeless encampment on Seattle K-8 public school campus

Alleged prostitutes were seen working the homeless encampment on the campus of the Broadview-Thompson K-8 public school on Tuesday. Neighbors told The Post Millennial that the alleged sex workers have been spotted in the area before, but usually frequent the area on nearby Aurora Avenue, which is known as the spot in the city for such activity.

This only weeks after employees from the King County Department of Health were discovered providing needles to addicts in the encampment.

Earlier Tuesday, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan called out the school board for refusing to deal with the encampment. "The school district needs to step up. We are there to help and assist them but they cannot shirk their obligations and duties for school property, it's imposed not just by law but what parents and families expect."

Last week, after a second overdose occurred at the encampment, faculty and staff at Seattle’s Broadview Thomson K-8 school demanded Seattle Public Schools address the homeless encampment on the school's campus which has plagued the area with crime and drugs.

The Mayor’s comments Tuesday appear to be in response to a letter she received from Seattle Public Schools interim superintendent Dr. Brent Jones, asking for her help in encouraging the Seattle School Board to remove the encampment from the property, which has so far refused to do so.

Parents at Seattle’s Broadview Thomson K-8 school fear for their children’s safety after the city and school board refused to intervene with the homeless encampment that currently resides on school property and has seen multiple overdoses of campers, rodents, brawls, weaponry and even people attempting to gain entry into the school building.

Enrollment for Broadview-Thompson has fallen dramatically for the fall in response to the inaction of the Seattle School Board. Bryce Nicolls, a parent of a student at the school told KOMO News that their family has decided to pull their son from Broadview because of the schools failure ensure safety of their students. "We are already enrolling him in Connections Academy for home school because of this."

Nicolls, told Fox and Friends that the school went into lockdown after an unknown man entered the school, describing the situation "completely out of control." The school has been placed on lockdown at least twice and police have come to the campus multiple times since students returned in April in response to activity in the encampment.

"They have broken into the school. The school has been on a shelter-in-place lockdown multiple times due to one of the people at the encampment having a gun, and there’s fights there constantly," Nicolls said.

Nicolls added that letters were sent to the parents of baseball players that practice at the school warning them to watch out for hypodermic needles before games. However, use of the field was suspended due to the homeless encampment crisis.

The Broadview Thompson parent also mentioned that the city has offered the school help in addressing the detrimental situation but the school board "pretty much just won’t do anything about it."

In response to the complaints of parents, the district placed four-foot plastic tarps on the fence that separates the encampment from the school in a ridiculous attempt at a solution.Teachers, parents and staff slammed the tarps and said it’s not enough to deter the crisis.

"We have been worried about the safety of the staff and the students for quite some time now," Natalee Powell, a second-grade teacher at Broadview Thomson K-8 told KOMO News. "The other day there was a loud noise and my students jumped in class and asked if it was a gunshot and if it came from the playground. This is not how I want to end my second-grade year with my kids," she added.

In response to complaints, Seattle school board members Chandra Hampson and Zachary DeWolf published a joint statement condemning any potential removal of encampments from school property or anywhere else in the city "We demand sweeps NEVER be performed on school grounds, adjacent or elsewhere in this City." Meanwhile, SPS superintendent Denise Juneau admitted in an email to neighbors obtained by The Post Millennial that "We realize people living unsheltered in encampments can create health and safety hazards for their occupants and the general public." Hampson threatened parents and neighbors who showed up on campus when school resumed in April to warn uninformed parents with tresspassing violations.                      

A group of fed-up parents started a GoFund Me to raise money so that they can effectively sue the school over failure to remove the encampment from school grounds and provide safety to their students.