GUAM COMPUTERS STOLEN http://www.guampdn.com/article/20110524/NEWS01/105240305

3 schools hit again by vandals

12:00 AM, May. 24, 2011  |  

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Okkodo High School was victim to another spree of vandalism that left fifteen classrooms, three offices in disarray. Two out of 24 laptops were stolen among other items. / Photo courtesy of Okkodo High School

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Written by

Erin Thompson

• FILED UNDER
• News
• Local News

HOW TO HELP

•The Guam Police Department is asking the public to help identify the individuals responsible for vandalizing public schools. You can do so by calling GPD at 472-8911 or phone in an anonymous tip to Guam Crime Stoppers at 477-4357 (HELP).

Even with the school year coming to an end, the spate of burglaries and vandalism at public schools hasn't abated.

Three public schools reported weekend break-ins yesterday that left schools bereft of property, with graffiti, broken windows and damaged goods.

"You know these are just senseless acts of violence, senseless," said Angel Legaspi, acting principal of Inarajan Middle School.

The southern school is recovering from two consecutive break-ins this weekend.

Legaspi said on Friday the vandals damaged the school cafeteria and kitchen, leaving on faucets to flood the floor, food commodities and dry goods scattered, including two cases of chicken products "floating on the floor." He noted that the contaminated food products had been disposed of.

The break-in was discovered by kitchen staff at around 5:30 a.m. on Friday. The weekend's second break-in, in which seven classrooms sustained damage, was discovered by teaching staff yesterday morning. Legaspi said the damage was extensive, with graffiti strewn on walls, broken windows, chairs and tables overturned and school supplies scattered about. He said he didn't think anything had been stolen, calling the event "pure vandalism."

Kids at the school had to spend their morning in the library while the Guam Police Department crime lab investigated.

"Instructional time did continue," said Legaspi. "Although in the more restricted environment because of the overcrowding."

But he said DOE staff will spend the summer painting over graffiti tags in the classrooms. For kids, the graffiti has an effect as well.

The students feel the pain when they see a classroom disrespected, Legaspi said.

Okkodo High

At Okkodo High School vandals broke into fifteen classrooms and three offices, and smashed 18 security windows, said Rita Flores, assistant principal at Okkodo.

A basketball coach discovered the break-in, which is the fourth for the school this year, Saturday morning, said Okkodo Principal Ken Denusta.

Missing items include two laptops, as well as a tent, physical education equipment, including a ball pump, and snacks and drinks.

"We're just hoping that they'll catch whoever the persons are who are responsible," said Denusta.

For kids in the marketing lab at the school, the break-in was a real-world learning experience about the risks of business ventures, said Kathy Chargualaf, GCC marketing teacher at Okkodo.

Two of the classroom's 24 computers -- Lenovo ThinkPad Notebooks -- were stolen, and the class retail products such as snacks and drinks for the schools' staff were taken. Vandals also poured coffee around the classroom, said Flores.

"It's just a little frustrating, because, the bottom line is we're here for the students and when they do stuff like this it does affect the students now ... that's just one less resource that they had," Chargualaf said.

Theft and vandalism has gotten so bad at the school that instructors of the carpentry and automotive classes took it upon themselves to reinforce the doors to their classrooms. The doors to the shop are now bolted shut from the inside with heavy metal locks and wire gates, which prevented the vandals from breaking in this time around.

Dan Lawcock, automotive instructor for the GCC program at Okkodo, said he has lost some of his own personal tools, as well as brand-new tools for the students in break-ins, and the window to the shop window has been repeatedly broken.

"They walked off last time with a set I had just bought the students. It wasn't even opened yet," Lawcock said.

Finegayan Elementary

At Finegayan Elementary in Dededo, police discovered a break-in Sunday morning, said Principal Evangeline Iglesias. She said the main office door was wide open and the office had been "ransacked."

The vandals broken into all the rooms of the office, including Iglesias' office, the administrator's office, the storage room, the nurses office and the parent information resource office, said Iglesias.

"Things were tossed all over the place," said Iglesias. The perpetrators also discharged the fire extinguisher -- coating the office in the spray. Iglesias said tools had been stolen, as well as keys, which requires that a locksmith changes the schools' locks.

Material from the fire extinguisher was sprayed on computers and the copy machine, and some of the CPU monitors had been drenched with soap.

"We're still cleaning up," said Iglesias.

The perpetrators also took a variety of items, including loose change, pens, markers and snacks, said Iglesias. This is the second time the school has been hit. Earlier in the year the school thieves broke in and stole the school safe, and searched the main office and classrooms, said Iglesias.