RHODE ISLAND COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM HIGH SCHOOLSThe Call - News - 02/16/2005 - Thieves again raid high schoolCUMBERLAND -- Two years ago, police arrested three young adults for breaking into the high school and getting away with 50 laptop computers.

Now it appears a similar heist, but on a smaller scale, was staged sometime Monday night and Tuesday morning with thieves making off with computers and other electronic equipment.

The break-in was discovered after 7 a.m. Tuesday as teachers and students arrived in their classrooms, said Detective Sgt. Albert Skeldon.

Several teachers with classrooms on the second floor of the transitional building first noticed the missing items.

Skeldon would not give the precise inventory of the stolen equipment, but said there were several laptop computers, a DVD player and calculators taken in the break-in.

The investigation is ongoing, but so far investigators have found no evidence that there was any forced entry into the school complex, the classrooms or the cabinets where the electronics were stored, Skeldon said.

Call it a case of lightning -- or thieves -- striking twice. The laptops that were stolen were actually the replacement computers for those taken from a science classroom two years ago, according to Superintendent Joseph Nasif.

The thieves also managed to get into the main high school building and steal some items from a special education classroom.

"This is virtually the same as two years ago in that whoever broke in knew right where the computers were," Nasif said.

In the last theft, one of the people arrested had been a student in the forensic science class, whose computers were stolen, and the other two were former high school students.

Nasif said it’s possible this is another case of a student or former student being involved.

"Its frustrating," Nasif said, adding that the incident highlights the need to implement a permanent security system at the sprawling high school complex.

It’s been an issue that had a lot of public discussion. At one point, money was budgeted for security cameras and other equipment as part of CHS 2010, the plan for renovating and adding to Cumberland High School.

But the appropriation disappeared as costs rose for the auditorium and the Wellness Center, which includes a gymnasium.

School Committee member Bob Thibodeau said he’s been trying to get answers about how many laptops are in the schools and what steps are being taken to secure the equipment. He said he’s still waiting for an answer.

Nasif said it appeared at that point shoring up security could be done with about $65,000. But with the school expansion, he said the cost was closer to $300,000.

With about $800,000 left in a contingency fund for the high school project, Nasif suggested a portion of that could help fund the security system. If necessary, Nasif said he was willing to find some of the funding from the school budget.

The superintendent said he plans to discuss the high school security issue at the next CHS 2010 Building Committee meeting and School Committee meeting.

"If everyone agrees there is a security problem, we shouldn’t be discussing it, we should be acting," Nasif said.