Ann Arbor Schools Haunted By Vandals

The extent of vandalism in the Ann Arbor Public Schools was epitomized through an estimated $50,000 loss from the February 27th fire at Mack Elementary School. The damage was so extensive that classes were cancelled for two days. "It was an incident of first dass vandalism," commented Ann Arbor Pólice Chief Waker E. Krasney af ter viewing the damage. Although this was the first fire of major proportions set by vandals, the rampage conducted before the fire was characteristic of recent school break-ins. Desks were overturned, glass door paneling smashed, and a teacher's aquarium was broken, killing the fish. After prowlers roamed through numerous rooms, damaging everything in their path, they set fire to the business office. The entire public address system for the school, the duplicating machine, and the wiring for the operation of bells in the building were destroyed in the fire. Valuable records perished. Two electric typewriters were scorched by the intense heat and desks in the office were virtually burned in half. "There is no question about it," commented Ann Arbor Public Schools Director of Operations Ralph Lajeunesse, "there has been a steady increase of vandalism in our schools." "I don't forsee any let-up either," he added. Lajeunesse says it's not uncommon for him to come to his office Monday morning and learn there have been as many as four school break-ins over the weekend. He lists five áreas that seem to be of primary interest to vandals: -office area, induding files, the school safe and storage cabinets - vending machines, coin telephones -school iuipment, portable" audio-visual units, scientific laboratory devices, and musical instruments -classrooms, including glass windows and door-panes - lavatories Intruders pilfer the first two hoping to find money. Principáis are instructed to leave a minimum of cash in schools over night and particularly over weekends. Cash piek ups are daily in the secondary schools and twice a week in the elementary schools. Additionally, arrangements are made for a night deposit for each school so there are only a few instances where appreciable sums of money are left overnight in school safes and vaults. Officials can do very little about rifling of vending machines. "Some venders are threatening to pull their maíines out ot our schools because they are continually broken into," Lajeunesse says. When vandals fail to find money they set on destroying as much property as possible. Pólice theorize a burdar's frustration over lack of money at Mack School triggered his rampage leading to arson. Chief Krasny commented, "There was no reáson whatsoever for most of the damage done to school property before the fire was set." ti Any school equipment that can be peddled on the open market" interests prowlers. Tape recorders projectors, and other audio visual aids are often carried' Locking up these items fails to discourage thievery Doors are pryed open, hinges pulled off and axes Jd sledge hammers used. "Some vandals actually have keys to many locks " Jeungstates'teachers lose th,W W„ or some students steal them and have copies made. We have no deterrent for losing keys. If a key is missing, another one is made, usually at a nominal cost for the person who misplaced it." An item that has recently become popular with thieves are scientific measuring devices. Pólice say portable scales apparently come in handy when weighing marijuana and other illegal drugs. "It would be easy to blame vandalism on the drug problem," Ann Arbor Pólice Detective Sgt. Gregory Katapodis states, "but we have found vandals are not pressured by the need for drugs." GLASS BREAKAGE ITEMIZED While it is nearly impossible to itemize all expenditures I caused by vandalism, an accurate account is kept of the I most frequent target: glass. In January Lajeunesse I reported to the school board that increased glass breakage so far in the school year (September 1 to December 18) had led to a replacement cost of S17, 031. 52-17, 000. 00 over the entire year's budgeted allocation. The board I granted the director of operations an extra 110,000.00- a I sum which he now finds depleted. "Not only have we used up the extra money, but I see I our glass replacement costs to be $5-6,000.00 more before I the school year is out. All we can do is cut back in some I other area (ground maintenance, painting) or delve into I the Superintendente contingency fund." In his report, Lajeunesse noted expenditures were not I confined exclusively to one school or area of the district. I Highest glass breakage occured at Northside School, I amounting to $3,559.99. Forsythe Junior High received I $2,240.42 for damages and Pioneer High was the third I most expensive with 11,825.81. The smallest figure was turned in by Burns Park I Elementary School-$3.23. Generally costs were 1 somewhat higher at the junior and senior high schools. Officials are at a loss why the figures range so much. I Whehter schools are located in residential or open areas I seems to make little difference to window smashers. Plastic materials are being substituted for glass in areas I of increased breakage. The materials are considerably I more exènsive than' regular glass but are relatively unbreakable. Plexiglass costs 8 more per square foot than regular glass, while Luxan costs 3 times as much as regular glass per square foot. Plexiglass is rated 17 times more resistant than glass and Luxan 250 times more resistant than glass. The disadvantages of these two materials is that they can be "scratched" very easily even though they seldom break. In older buildings, the Luxan. is so strong that the force of a blow may damage the window frame. Another area of the school vandalized is the lavatory. "It is not unusual to find these areas hit repeatedly, even after repairs are made," Lajeunesse notes. Fires are lit in waste paper containers, doors ripped off stalls, and toilet seats yanked out of place. The situation become so bad' that last December the school board hired matrons to circuíate through the girl's lavatories at the two high schools. Their job is to keep the rest rooms clean and report any vandalism or trouble immediately. "This program has been fairly successful," Lajeunesse (over please) ANN ARI30R SCHOOLS HAUNTED BY VANDALS (continued) - s"tateS) "but we can't have a matron at all the schools nor in every lavatory at all times." Teachers are reluctant to patrol rest rooms because they consider it somewhat out of the scope of theirjobs. It would be almost impossible to deploy teachers at every rest room anyway. VANDALISM HANDLED How are cases of vandalism handled by school officials? Lejeunesse lists the steps principáis are to follow upon noticing a break in: -cali pólice immediately - notify his office - assess any damage -itemize missing articles Through finger printing and other investigative means, pólice are often able to apprehend the culprits. Det. Sgt. Katapodis said six juveniles have been connected with the Mack School fire and charges will be forthcoming. A copy of the pólice report was sent to Lajeunesse. If a student is caught vandalizing property by school officials, disciplinary action is determined by the circumstances surrounding the incident. A pólice officer is stationed at each high school and can make any necessary arrests. Almost always, unless an honest accident, the cost for repairs and labor are billed to the student's parents. jj "Only S35.00 was recouped from students who broke I glass up until the first of this year, a small percentage compared to the total glass figure," Lajeunesse notes. "It is difficult to catch vandals in the act, however. Most activity-break ins, glass breakage, occur on the weekends or at night." WHY DO KIDS VANDALIZE? Dr. Martin Gold of the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, classifies vandalism as another form of delinquency-of which schools are partly responsible. "A child fails in the classroom and it becomes poetic justice for him to take it out on the school," Dr. Gold He adds that vandahrr7 is seen as a legitímate means of ■ poUtical protest by some students. A method to attack an ■ institution. Dr Gold is the author of "Delinquent Behavior in an ■ American City," a study which involved intensive ■ questioning of a representative sample of the American I teenagers living in a large Midwestern city. He has also I written numerous other publications on the subject oi I "delinquency." - ' . c I "Since schools are vacant so much of the time, trom I late afternoon until early the following day, the y are easy targets for break ins. Intruders often teil themselves that I "no one will ever miss" the items they steal. They view schools as public buildings-what belongs to everybody belongs to no one." . „ Professor Gold sees no easy solution to the nse ot vandalism. He says opening schools after hours for recreational activities has encouraged undesuables to loiter in the área and particípate in break ins. "Making school less of a rat race wouldn't hurt, he states, "the presure in the classroom is often released in destructive ways after school." METHODSTO REDUCE VANDALISM School officials continue to search for methods to reduce vandalism. One step was the installation of a detection system at Scarlett Junior High School. It detects glass breakage or unusual noises in the building and relay s I a warninr to the city pólice station. The system costs about S2,500 for secondary schools and about Ï,1,UU tor ■ an elementary building. "It's been a worthwhile investment," comments I Lejeunesse. He listed the benefits of the system as the I following: -the system covers the entire buiding and is very I sensitive -the person breaking in isn't aware of the signal sent I to the pólice station -pólice are happy to cooperate with such a system -a notice is put on all the outside doors informing would be intruders that a detection system is I operating, thus discouraging illegal entry. "We've requested similar systems be included in next year's budget," the director of operations States, "they will be installed in six schools-the ones with the most frequent break ins." Lejeunesse estimated the cost to be approximatley $16,000.00 Other suggestions considered by Lejeunesse to discourage vandalism included stationing security guards in the schools. "The cost would be almost prohibitive," he says. Placing a watch dog in schools at night. "A good idea, but what if a teacher wanted to come back to school after hours to work? A dog would be trained to discourage all intruders, whether they had a right to be there or not." Approaching student-government and groups, impressine on them the need for student cooperation in reducing vandalism. (Please turn tojage 26Ï P'From an architect's point ot view aboul the only fthing you can do is design a building with very httle glass and wmdows," States school district Planner-Expediter Sooren H. Gozmanian. Gozmanian recently sent letters to parents of chddren in the Nixon-Plymouth Road area asking them to keep I eauipment and walls were senselessly abused. Other school districts are also facing mcreased vandalism. Two youths recently caused tens of thousands of dollars' worth of damage during a hammer-swinging spree through a school in Beverly Hills, Michigan. In the process they demoüshed a $1,150 piano. , ,. „ "The unfortunate aspect of increased vandalism, Lajeunesse concludes, "is the more we spend on repamng damaged property, the less we have for educaüon As cases of vandalism rise, insurance costs are bound to spiral Ann Arbor Public Schools have been unable to obtain glass breakage insurance, but, according to school district comptroller Bill Wade, none of the exutmg policies are apt to be cancelled. Wade is preparing a report on insurance costs to be presented to the school board. The answers are few, the costs are many, but school officials agree something has to be done to stem the nde nf vundalism in schools. -gmmt