WISCONSIN COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM ADMINISTRATION OFFICETHE-BEE - Phillips, WisconsinBreak-ins, theft plague two Prentice institutions
High school, church report four incidents in six weeks
Ryan Stutzman
THE-BEE
Last Updated: Thursday, December 02nd, 2004 09:25:31 AM

A rash of break-ins and thievery during the past six weeks has rattled two Prentice institutions.
In the most recent case, Prentice High School staff arrived Nov. 23 to find more than $3,000 worth of currency and property missing.
Prentice District Administrator Dan Paul said there was no sign of forced entry into the building, although someone broke a wall panel to enter the main administrative office. There was approximately $150 in cash missing from that office's cash box and lunch accounts.
The most expensive losses were in the technology administrator's office, including an Apple laptop computer, a digital video camera and professional computer software. The aggregate value of those items is an estimated $2,900.
The district will recover financial losses from the thefts, but not before paying an insurance deductible.
Technology chief Heikki Heikkinen said no confidential or sensitive information was lost in the heist, but the software loss will reverberate for many months.
"Someday I'll need (one of the programs), and it won't be there," he said.
Paul expressed an overt indignation over the incident.
"I'd like to catch these vandals," he said. "Not only are they stealing from the district, they're stealing from the whole community. They (the community) pay for this stuff."
The district is offering a reward for information leading to a conviction in the case, which is in the hands of Price County Sheriff's Department investigators. That department's non-emergency number is 339-3011. Sources can remain confidential if they wish.
School staff suspect the perpetrator or perpetrators have some knowledge about the school and the whereabouts of valuable school property.
"They knew exactly where to go," Paul said, although he also said the district is not making any further assumptions about possible suspects.
The cash supply in the administrator's office is common knowledge, he said, because lunch payments and other transactions take place there.
The Nov. 23 incident was not an isolated case; on Nov. 15, four students and one teacher reported hundreds of dollars worth of missing clothes, shoes and compact discs.
District practices that favor openness may have enabled the crimes, Paul said. The building is often open for many hours before and after school for extra-curricular activities and for the community at large. For example, some Prentice-area residents walk the halls for exercise.
Paul said the experience has left the school with a damaged sense of security.
"The staff feels violated," he said, because "we trust people."
Paul said some steps have been taken to improve security, but liberal open-door practices will not change.
"(The burglary) is not going to deter us," he said. "It's paramount that people have access to our facilities."
Meanwhile, just a few blocks away, on Nov. 21, the First Baptist Church of Prentice was burglarized for the second time since October.
Pastor Ralph Miller told THE-BEE someone broke a window and then broke into the church office.
Miller said material losses in that case did not amount to much compared with an Oct. 15 burglary, when the congregation's speaker system and a laptop computer were stolen.
The church is also offering a reward for information leading to convictions.
Sheriff Wallace Krenzke would not speculate about whether any of the Prentice thefts or break-ins are related, and declined to disclose any more details because they are under investigation. He did offer a brief summary of the church incident, however.
"It seems someone is attending church after services are over," Krenzke said.