Homeless person climbs to roof of Tucson elementary school

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) - Parents of students at an elementary school in Tucson are concerned about safety and security.

That’s because on two separate occasions, a homeless person was found on campus, one time on the roof of the school building.

It happened at Cragin Elementary on Oct. 1 and it took a full week for parents to be notified.

“That’s very concerning because I have seen a few of them by the back of the school, but never around in the school, so yeah that’s scary,” said one Cragin Elementary School parent.

According to the Tucson USD, at 7 a.m. Oct. 1, a custodian found a homeless individual inside the school before students and staff arrived. School safety was not on campus at the time, but they were called in. The Tucson USD said the man left without incident.

TUSD said four hours later that day at 11 a.m. when students and staff were on campus, a homeless individual climbed onto the roof of the school. The TUSD representative 13 News spoke to said it could be the same individual from earlier that morning, but since there was no arrest, police did not confirm.

TUSD said school safety was at the school when this incident happened, but, again, the individual left without incident.

TUSD promised 13 News an interview with its director of school safety regarding these incidents but were later told they would not be able to schedule that interview and instead sent us an email response.

We did ask TUSD via email how the homeless person or persons were able to get into the school and on the roof, as well as where exactly on campus they were found, but were told that due to school safety concerns, they cannot release more information.

We do know the unauthorized person or persons did not check in at the front office which is a requirement for all school visitors.

We spoke with a mother whose child attends the school. She wanted to remain anonymous but said she was worried about why the homeless individual or individuals were there in the first place.

“He could have taken off with one of the children,” she said. “If he got in with nobody seeing, then he could have taken off with nobody seeing.”

It took one week for parents to be notified about this. The parent we spoke with learned the news from us.

“That is weird that I didn’t hear about it,” she said.

TUSD said the message sent to parents on Oct. 7th read, “On Tuesday, October 1st, an unauthorized individual was located inside Cragin Elementary School Campus. School safety was immediately notified, who fortunately were already on campus. The school administration worked closely with the officers to ensure the situation was addressed quickly and efficiently.”

If you notice, parents were only told about an unauthorized person located inside the school, and there was no mention of anyone being found on the roof. Parents were also told that school safety was already on campus, but they were not on campus during the first incident when the homeless person was found inside the school. TUSD said the reason why there was conflicting information was because of the two occurrences on the same day.

TUSD said that they have faced historical challenges related to individuals experiencing homelessness on their campuses, but that incidents such as the one at Cragin are infrequent.

The district said they have, and will continue to, work with Tucson Police to seek assistance in ensuring school safety. Also, the approval of a $480 million bond will allow TUSD to implement “significant security upgrades.”

13 News is still waiting for an interview to discuss those school safety upgrades to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.

TUSD added that “due to limited financial resources, TUSD is unable to staff a School Safety Officer at every campus.”

They explained that they currently have a maximum of ten officers on duty during the day, who are assigned to visit and respond to the district’s 88 schools as frequently as possible.

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