Private high schools in Los Angeles have recently forced to closeciting the city’s homeless crisis. Los Angeles Times It was reported on Sunday.
The Media Arts Academy was forced to close on Jan. 15 due to safety concerns raised by the area’s growing homeless population, according to a breach of contract lawsuit filed by the school’s founder, Dana Hammond. The Times reported that 50 high school students are enrolled at the institution, many of them from “low-income black and Latino families.”
The school’s campus is located within the Los Angeles Grand Hotel, which is also the location of a homeless shelter. Since 2021, the hotel has participated in Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Karen’s Inside His Bus Safe Housing Program. The school moved into the hotel in 2022 with assurances that the housing program would soon end, according to the complaint. However, the program has been extended.
Before moving into the hotel, the school was located inside a church. At one time, the academy enrolled 250 students, but enrollment has dropped to about 50. Hammond said the sharp decline meant that by mid-January he was unable to pay his $100,000 monthly rent.
A comment left on one of the school’s classroom whiteboards read: “Human poop on the sidewalk. The smell of urine is all over campus. Riot by ‘Inside Safe’ tenants. ‘Inside Safe’ “Safe” tenant’s break-in. Drug paraphernalia was found on campus.” Safe’s tenant was found in a dumpster. ”
A report obtained by school security and reviewed by The Times said a man staying at the hotel as part of the program threatened the security guard. In another example, a woman exposed herself to her students. In another instance, a naked woman threatened to “shoot and stab” a security guard behind the school.
“The lives of students were at risk because of the residents of Inside Safe,” Hammond said. “We’re not the enemy of homeless shelters. We just can’t put them in the same building as a high school.”
Bath City spokeswoman Clara Karger told the Times that the city has increased security at the hotel to create a safer environment for students. She said Karger said the city installed additional fencing, conducted a site visit and worked with school security to respond to the call.
The hotel is owned by Chinese billionaire Wei Fan, whose real estate company, Shenzhen New World No. 1, was reportedly involved in a corruption scandal and has been accused of bribery, the Times reported. He was convicted of fraud. Huang was fined $4 million and fled the country in 2018. He is considered a fugitive.
Mr. Hammond said, “Mr. Hwang repeatedly made false and misleading statements suggesting that the Los Angeles Grand Hotel would no longer be a homeless shelter in the near future, even though Mr. Hwang had no intention of breaking the favorable agreement.” ‘ he claimed.
“The mayor’s office does not condone the actions of the fugitive grounds owner,” Crager told the Times.
“LA Grand has brought hundreds of unhoused people indoors from the harsh elements of life on the streets, and this work continues to save lives every day,” Karger added.
Approximately 47,000 homeless people live in the city. Los Angeles spends more than $1 billion annually to serve homeless people.
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