Downtown Moncton school sees increase in used needles, people sleeping in doorways

The principal of a school in downtown Moncton says she's seeing an increase in the number of needles left on school property and people sleeping in school doorways.

Sheila Johnston, principal of Edith Cavell, said she and her staff are checking entryways in the morning and removing trash and needles before the K-8 students show up for class.

She's asking for a stronger response from local government, including providing more affordable housing and drug addiction services.

"I think it really has to be a top-down approach," she told Information Morning Moncton. "We're meeting with the mayor on Monday going to do a little walk-through of the school grounds and show ... the areas that are quite dangerous for us."

Homelessness and drug addiction are topics often discussed at council meetings, with many solutions floated — from increasing policing to giving money to affordable housing groups. 

Johnston said she feels empathetic toward people coming to school in the overnight hours because they have nowhere else to go.

"I know many of them do need, you know, a lot of mental health support," she said, and that may not be "easily accessible for them."

'A school is a beacon'

Johnston said she's had supportive conversations with the school district, RCMP and the YMCA reconnect program.

Trevor Goodwin, senior director of outreach services at the YMCA, said he's met with representatives from multiple schools with the same issues. He said people struggling with homelessness are often attracted to school grounds because they know no one will be there at night.

"A school is a beacon," he said. "It's ingrained in people's minds ... They know inherently that a school is a safe place for them to go to."

As immediate solutions, Goodwin suggested a nightly patrol person could check on the property before morning.

To minimize bringing the discarded needles into the school, the school should consider installing a sharps container outside, he said.

At the end of the day, he said, the onus is on the institution to maintain and secure their property.

He said in an ideal world, the people resorting to the school would have "wrap-around" support and affordable housing. But that seems unachievable at the moment, Goodwin said.

"Those are things that we champion and that we advocate for on a daily basis," he said. "It's a huge issue everywhere. ... We don't have the resources, we don't have the affordable housing. We don't have enough mental health and addiction and frontline community services."

Goodwin said the city of Moncton has "stepped up" and put money toward things that may fall under provincial and federal mandates.

"The responsibility is on everyone," he said. "It's on all levels of government. It's on all ... members of community."