SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Community leaders and concerned parents joined Sacramento Vice Mayor Angelique Ashby to discuss the importance of keeping children safe Tuesday.
The meeting comes after several incidents where young students were followed or harassed by homeless individuals near schools or daycare centers. The most recent incident happened last week when a Sutter Middle School student was walking to school.
Ashby is now calling for a change to an ordinance that bans unsanctioned homeless encampments in a certain radius of protected properties.
She called on the city manager and city attorney to add all Sacramento schools and daycare centers to the list of buildings that require a 500-foot buffer around the facilities.
“We need to support our students, as well as their parents, teachers, and administrators so that schools are safe places to learn, free of fear. They have been through so much already, from a pandemic to the national school gun violence epidemic. Every level of government has a role to play, this ordinance is something the City of Sacramento can do right now to better protect our kids,” Ashby said.
Some parents approve of this suggested change but wish it was more.
"To me, this 500 feet is not enough, but it's a start," said Stephanie Crow, mother of a Sutter Middle School student. "Our kids are scared, it's unacceptable and we need to solve the problem for them."
The ordinance can be modified and implemented immediately by a vote of the city council. Ashby said it could be brought up at the next city council meeting, Oct. 11.
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