MASSACHUSETTS COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM SCHOOLTeens charged in theft at school - The Boston GlobeTeens charged in theft at school
Calculators, laptops taken
By Missy Ryan, Globe Correspondent | November 3, 2005

Framingham High School principal Michael Welch had just gotten into his office early on the Tuesday after Columbus Day when he noticed something strange: The bag of chewing gum he kept near his desk was missing.

''I said, 'Oh, my gum's gone.' And that was the first inkling I had that something was stolen."

It turned out that a lot more than the gum was missing. The thieves had cleared the school out.

They had stolen expensive equipment worth $106,000, including 52 laptop computers that cost $1,700 apiece, 70 graphing calculators worth $90 each, wireless microphones, a high-tech projector -- even 18 DVD movies, including ''The Wizard of Oz," ''Ben-Hur," and ''Gladiator."

''My reaction was, 'Holy mackerel! We've been just wiped out here,' " said Welch, who arrived in Framingham this year from Newton South High School.

Two students have been charged in the thefts and the school has its equipment back, but the case highlights a growing vulnerability for schools across the nation as they shell out thousands of dollars to equip their students with state-of-the-art computing gear.

Many educators see high-technology equipment as indispensable in preparing students to succeed in today's plugged-in world. But the instruments are also frequently small, portable, and pricey -- increasing the risk of losing them to sticky-fingered students or outsiders.

Framingham High students Alfonzia Holland-Hagan and Jacob Reznikow are to be arraigned today in Framingham District Court on charges that include larceny, receiving stolen property, destruction of property, and breaking and entering.

The students, both 18, could not be reached for comment. Court officials said late last week that no lawyer had yet been assigned to the defendants.

''This is the largest dollar-value theft I can recall in town from a school," said Framingham Police Lieutenant Vincent Alfano, who praised ''good old-fashioned footwork" and cooperation between police and school officials for the speedy recovery of the stolen goods.

Welch praised Officer Ben Ottaviani, Framingham High's in-school police officer, for leading the police to the home of the suspects, where they said they found most of the stolen gear.

Ottaviani ''is like a magician. . . . He knows these kids, he knows the neighborhoods, knows who's out at night," Welch said.

According to the police report, the school set a $500 reward for information about the theft. Welch received a tip saying that a senior named Al -- who lived in a house ''where kids are always partying" -- was responsible for the theft.

Police checked the area, and the day after the theft was discovered, Ottaviani and Detective Lawrence Hendry knocked on the door of the Johnson Street apartment in which Holland-Hagan and Reznikow were staying. Police said that the students agreed to show them the equipment.

''This is what you're looking for," Reznikow said as he showed police some of the stolen gear stashed in his bedroom, according to the police report.

Some items were also in Holland-Hagan's bedroom and in the trunk of Reznikow's car, and others were returned days later, the report said.

According to police, the students gave differing accounts of the theft.

Holland-Hagan said that the pair, unassisted, had entered the school that Saturday around 11 p.m. through an open door and wheeled the gear out in a laundry cart.

But Reznikow said he got a call from Holland-Hagan, who allegedly previously had pilfered equipment with two or three other individuals.

Welch said that Holland-Hagan and Reznikow had been suspended, and the school was considering tutoring or alternative schools so the pair could continue their studies during their suspension.

''We're not obligated to provide them with an education, but we're trying to do the best we can by these students, even though they made a . . . mistake," Welch said.

The theft was a jolt for the high school, which is three years into a $60 million renovation of its 40-year-old facilities and has invested significantly in recent years to provide students with high-tech equipment used in classes, including languages and computer programming. Teachers also rely on laptops to work from home.

Welch said the school's mobile computer stations -- with laptops on carts as opposed to dedicated computer labs -- better reflect the integral role that technology now plays in learning.

''Yet, at the same time, it makes it easier to rip these off," he said. ''Ironically, I think . . . more and more of this is happening in high schools."

Some schools, companies, and government agencies now pay for laptop security options that include cables that lock the laptops down, metal identification plates that leave a tattoo on the computer if they are removed, or stealth software that can lead police to stolen computers. And for some security firms, schools are the top growth market.

Yves Berliet, president of Secure Tracking of Office Property, which provides deterrence and recovery products to clients such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and school districts across the country, said public and private schools and universities now make up 15 percent of his clients.

''All of a sudden, you have students or kids that are not used to carrying more than $20 in their pocket that now are carrying thousands of dollars in equipment," Berliet said.

Because laptops can be the size of a folder, they're easy to conceal. They also can fetch good street value at places like pawn shops.

But Berliet said that more than half of missing laptops are simply lost, rather than stolen. In the case of students, they forget about them on the school bus, in the cafeteria, or in the library.

''That's the trend that's not only for school kids," Berliet said, ''it's the same for the adults."