A local family has grown concerned after a Parkland-area preschool has reportedly been the setting of loitering by homeless people, public drug use and a suspected break-in in recent months.
Devin Todd has two children that attend Cadence Academy Preschool — a private preschool and daycare at 1908 96th St.
Todd told The News Tribune the area around the school has had a “presence” of unhoused people. The school sits at the end of Hosmer Street — a corridor in South Tacoma notorious for instances of crime , drugs and homelessness .
Todd said in the last year things at the school have gotten worse.
He said at night there are often homeless people who go onto the daycare’s property and camp on the children’s playground, leaving behind drug paraphernalia and garbage. He said teachers and staff have to sweep the area and make sure there is nothing left behind for children to see.
His wife Kathryn said she saw a woman urinating into bushes in front of the school’s window during daylight hours. She said when she reported it to staff at the school, she was given the impression it was a common occurrence.
Pierce County Sheriff Department spokesperson Sgt. Darren Moss told The News Tribune law enforcement received 113 calls related to the address of Cadence Academy Preschool since the beginning of 2020.
According to a police report, a man was arrested on the sidewalk in front of the school on June 27, 2024, for possession of drug paraphernalia after responding deputies found him with a pipe and burned foil. He had two outstanding warrants.
On July 29, school administrators made the decision to close for the day after they found a window had been unscrewed and evidence that someone had broken in overnight.
“For the safety of everyone, we decided to close the second building to allow law enforcement to thoroughly sweep the school for trespassers and ensure no items were left behind,” read an email to parents from Samantha Navarro, the regional director for Cadence Academy schools in Washington.
When asked if his children had noticed the interference and disruptions at the school, Todd said it was hard for them not to.
Kathryn Todd told The News Tribune her kids did not seem scared by the disturbances, but the events spurred conversations she would not have wanted to have with her children at this age.
While Devin Todd said teachers and staff at the school had done a good job of keeping parents informed of the issues, they are not able to do much to prevent what is happening.
“Nothing is really getting done,” Todd told The News Tribune. “They aren’t security guards.”
Since the issues began, Todd said, the school had erected a fence, put in lights, and for a time, hired a security guard.
“Our Tacoma location has faced many challenges related to the transient population, and our school often serves as a safe haven at night. My team and I have been working tirelessly to keep our school safe and operational,” Navarro wrote in an email to parents on July 29.
Navarro did not respond to requests for comment from The News Tribune.
City of Tacoma spokesperson Maria Lee told The News Tribune the school is in Parkland, so any law enforcement response would be from the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. The boundary for the City of Tacoma is on 96th Street, meaning the preschool is just across the street from the city’s jurisdiction.
Lee said the city’s homeless outreach team had been conducting outreach in the block adjacent to the school.
In the email, Navarro told parents staff at the school had taken several steps to address the issues, including meeting with local city council members to discuss the loitering problem and collaborating with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department did not respond to The News Tribune’s requests for comment on the efforts being made to help Cadence Academy Preschool or to confirm they had been in contact with the school.
Pierce County Human Services spokesperson Jordan Chames said the county had not made contact with any encampments near the school as of Aug. 9.
“Our homeless team is in the process of having an outreach group make contact with the folks, however, they wouldn’t be able to enforce them to leave,” told The News Tribune.
“We are frustrated because we feel as parents we have done everything we can short of taking our kids out of the school,” Kathryn Todd told The News Tribune.
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