CINCINNATI — When we visited St. Francis Seraph School on the corner of Liberty Ave. and Vine St. on Wednesday, we found a crowd lining the block on Vine, a padlocked front gate and a malt liquor can impaled on the black metal front gate.
We visited the school, once again, in the wake of Principal Jineen Enneking calling on Cincinnati City Council to do more to address the chronic issues outside her school's doors.
As we walked through the halls, she pointed out a stairwell window toward the back of the Shell gas station parking lot across the street.
"When I walked back from city hall today, there was somebody defecating right behind the dumpster," she said.
It was easily visible from the school's windows for adults and children alike, and Enneking told us it was far from the first time they'd spotted or caught people on camera using the bathroom on or near the school.
"We've been known to power wash our sidewalks and our stoop outside because it's that bad," she said.
Our I-Team has extensively looked into the "open-air-drug market" around the church across the street from St. Francis Seraph School, and Enneking said the activity has only increased in the two years she has been principal.
She said to us and council that Mayor Aftab Pureval visited the school and surrounding area following the shooting death of 16-year-old Thomas Bell in September 2025, and she called on more to be done to address the problems still ongoing on the surrounding blocks.
When we talked with Pureval at the meeting's end, he said progress has been made toward addressing the rampant drug use and other crimes in the area.
"That's why we have been increasing the patrols both on bike and directed patrols with patrol cars through the area," Pureval said. "That's why we've increased enforcement, but that's also why we're investing hundreds of millions of dollars into the area with the rec center, the revitalization of Grant Park and the acquisition, just next door, of St. Seraph."
Pureval laid out plans to convert the church into a day center for services available to people experiencing homelessness in mid-July.
We asked if the addition of video surveillance and lighting around St. Francis Seraph School, one of Enneking's primary requests, was part of the plan.
"Absolutely. This council has invested heavily in lighting and surveillance, and that will certainly be part of investment in the area," Pureval said.
With students reporting to school in a week, Enneking said a solution can't come fast enough.
"I would have thought action would have been taken in the fall. Like, immediate action," she said.
