NYC parents furious about sudden plans for homeless shelter next to elementary

Parents in New York City are livid after discovering a homeless shelter will soon occupy the building next door to their children’s elementary school.

Families of The Peck Slip School, a public pre-K-5, didn’t learn about the new shelter until June 19 and felt like they were purposefully kept in the dark.

“They seem to want to push this through when no one is around,” one parent told the New York Post. “We recognize that many neighborhoods have shelters – but not attached to a school.”  

“There are so many homeless people suffering from mental illness, and sometimes those who are mentally ill can be aggressive,” said another parent. “So having [a shelter] occupy the same space as a public school raises concerns.”  

The Post reported the shelter would be “low-barrier,” meaning its operators try to make it as accessible as possible to the homeless. 

Common “barriers” to shelters can include drug and sobriety tests, background and criminal checks, or curfews. 

A major concern for parents was the sheer proximity of the arrangement.  

“[The shelter is] attached to the building of this elementary school,” a father, Kenny Grant, told Fox News. “There’s not even a certain amount of feet.” 

It will also be just 55 feet from an unfenced outdoor space the school uses for recess.  

“There are so many empty hotels, so many empty buildings, empty things that you could find somewhere else for this to go,” Grant continued.  

He said families have been given “soft assurances” there will be a security team and other safety measures, but parents are still worried.  

And New York isn’t the only district where homelessness is interfering with education.  

One California city council voted to ban homeless encampments near schools and daycares after students found needles on lunch tables and homeless individuals sleeping on school grounds. 

A high school principal even reported tens of thousands of dollars lost due to incidents of vandalism. 

In Portland, a nearby homeless shelter led to students being offered drugs and witnessing aggressive behavior.  

“We’ve had people who have been naked during drop off time, we’ve had people sleeping on the preschool doorstep,” recalled a local mother. “My kid doesn’t want to go to the library anymore, he doesn’t want to enter school on this side of the street. It becomes difficult.”