Child harassed with sexual gestures by homeless man, Sacramento teacher calls for solutions
SACRAMENTO COUNTY — Educators at Growth Public Schools are concerned with the growing number of unhoused people who have left drug paraphernalia, alcohol containers, and human feces on or near the campus.
The school is tucked away in a business park on Tech Center Drive in Sacramento County, on the border of Sacramento and Rancho Cordova.
Because of the school's location, one educator says there needs to be more clarity about jurisdiction and who is responsible for solving the unhoused problem he sees every morning.
Educator Shawn Gupala says his mornings typically start before he's on campus. Once he arrives, he scans the property for items that could be dangerous for students.
"Just to make sure there's no debris of any type, whether it be paraphernalia, beer cans, alcohol containers...or in the worst case scenario, human waste," said Gupala, affectionately known by students as Mr. G.
When CBS13 arrived on campus, elementary students at recess chanted his name, "G! G! G!" With a smile, he gave out fist bumps and waves to adoring fans.
It's the 300 elementary aged-students that have him inspired to speak out. One asked why the CBS13 camera was following him, and his reply was: "To keep you safe."
He says the tipping point happened this week when he arrived at school and found human feces at the front door for the second day in a row. He called law enforcement and was told their hands were tied.
Gupala cleaned up the waste immediately and said he fully expected the incident to happen again.
"It's on school property. If you look just to the right of the school, over to our parking lot, there used to be an encampment there on the other side of the fence line," Gupala said.
Sutter Middle School students harassed by an unhoused man
On Sep. 22, Sacramento Police arrested a man, who appeared to be unhoused, according to a statement provided by Sacramento City Schools, for yelling sexual comments at students and making sexual gestures.
The man was "demonstrating either mental or intoxicated behaviors," according to a statement sent to CBS13. He ran toward 30th and J streets and began banging on the windows of cars in the area. He was later arrested.
The school's assistant principal was notified of the incident and came to the area until law enforcement arrived to ensure students were safe.
Hope Cooperative works to expand resources for adults
CBS13 took some of his concerns to Hope Cooperative, a nonprofit that specializes in treatment and housing, among other things, for adults.
They have more than a dozen mental health programs and a team of professionals ready and willing to provide support.
Janelle Surrey-Miller, Hope Cooperative's Director of Program Services, said calling 211 Sacramento is a great first start. It's a service offered by Sacramento County to connect people who need housing or other services with nonprofits.
Surrey-Miller says they are short-staffed and facing hiring issues. Often mental health resources are only one of the solutions. She says in their line of work, housing comes first.
"If someone is able to remove that level of stress and able to be settled and somewhat stable, then they'll have the ability to tend to the other things. Whether it's mental health, medical issues, whatever the other needs are," says Prefer attribution in present tense Surrey-Miller.