School Vandalism Costs $86,000

Losses of nearly 86,000 due to theft and vandalism were recorded by the Ann Arbor School District during the 1971-72 school year, the Ann Arbor Board of Education learned Wednesday night. The total figure of $85,973.19 includes theft or damage of teaching and office equipment worth $17,346, plus $68,627.19 needed to make building repairs and replace glass damaged by vandals. Vandalism figures for the year before were not available. Glass breakage accounted for about $50,000 worth of the damage to school buildings last year. "It is apparent that vandalism has bec me a cause for concern," David Trost, deputy superintendent for operations, wrote in his report on vandalism and theft in the schools. Theft or damage of teaching and office equipment was reported at 18 different . schools plus the district's carpenter shop. the school which suffered the highest losses was Pioneer High, with a total figure of $7,776. Two changes have been instituted in an attempt to reduce the high cost oL glass breakage, Trost reported. Effective June 19 of this year, workmen began boarding up broken windows rather than replacing them immediately; they will be replaced prior to the opening of school in the fall. Secondly, Trost says the school district is equipping a "glazing crew" to replace all broken glass "in house rather than hire the replacement by commercial vendors. We feel this will enable us to reduce costs and maintain services," Trost said. Of the more than $68,000 worth of damage to school district buildings, only $216.14 was reimbursed to the schools by the vandals, according to the report. Some $529 worth of stolen items were returned.