LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — If you live in Spring Valley and live or work near Buffalo and Flamingo, you may be used to seeing homeless encampments that have built up in different spots at Spring Valley Community Park.
However, the issue for Spring Valley High School principal Tara Powell is that it's right next to–sometimes coming into–her school, and trash and property damage is being left behind.
"The kids deserve better," Powell said. "They deserve a safe learning environment, and right now this is a concern."
Powell walked us around the baseball field on the campus' south side bordering the park, where she says they've seen the most issues.
"And here too," Powell said while pointing to a shed on the baseball complex. "Broken through this, and trying to get in here and get shelter. Again, [the project was] fundraised by our baseball parents and it's just been destroyed."
Powell said one staff member even found someone living inside a press box shack, built by donors to the baseball program.
"It was filled with human excrement, alcohol, there was a meth straw," Powell said. "It was just disgusting, and was completely covered in urine."
The shack had to be torn down because of it: "hard earned money, they built it with their hands, and now it's gone," Powell said.
This has always been an issue according to Powell–she's worked off and on at Spring Valley since 2012, becoming principal in 2021–but it got exponentially worse this summer.
"That's why we try to always be here picking up our kids and being here on campus," said Spring Valley parent Diana Gonzalez.
Gonzalez said her child hasn't had any issues safety-wise at Spring Valley, and wasn't aware of the encampments at the park until we told her about them. Still, she says hearing about them was concerning.
"We're hoping that something gets done," Gonzalez said.
Powell said the school district and CCSD Police have been responsive when an issue arises on campus property–specifically praising the officers stationed at the school–but they're not able to do much in the park itself.
"We do have multiple campus monitors, and we're very visible, but it's just that one time when someone infiltrates the campus that you're worried about," Powell said.
Powell said she's spoken with Clark County park staff in the past, but hasn't heard back from county commissioners she recently sent emails to, including commission chair Tick Segerblom.
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I followed up with Segerblom via text Friday afternoon, and he replied that he just saw Powell's email, and that "we will fix it!"
In the meantime, Powell said she wants to get to the root cause of the issue, and be a part of the solution.
"I tell the kids all the time 'don't go in the park,' we've sent out Parent Link communication," Powell said. "How do we address this in a respectful manner, that's also keeping us all safe? Because we have to balance that."
