Over the past couple of months, Laguna Beach High School has been disrespected through repeated acts of vandalism. On Dec. 17, 2015 and the morning of Dec. 18, 2015, damage was done to the school’s HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system and condensation line. School faculty discovered the damaged school property that morning.
“The damage done to the systems will cost the school $10,000 to repair,” said assistant principal Bob Billinger.
Not only did this destruction hurt the school’s finances, but it damaged the faculty’s valuable time and energy.
Additionally, on the night of Dec. 29, 2015, two classrooms were vandalized by a group of unidentified individuals. The Laguna Beach Police Department placed a call to principal Chris Herzfeld with news that the school fire alarm went off around midnight. After receiving the message at 7:30 a.m. the morning after the break-in, Herzfeld then visited the school and examined the evidence. What he found was overwhelming.
“When I went into room 61, Mr. Sogo’s room, the whole thing was completely blanketed in white powder. Every surface was covered, and it looked like it had snowed,” said Herzfeld.
Once he had visited the neighboring classroom, which was also vandalized, Herzfeld noticed that the fire extinguisher was missing—the white snow was fire retardant.
“I took a few pictures and contacted our director of facilities, Jeff Dixon, and Mr. Billinger to get the ball rolling and start an investigation and figure out the steps for clean up,” said Herzfeld.
The white powder covering rooms 61 and 62 was only a small part of this act of vandalism.
“They had taken some masking tape and strung it around the room like trip wires or something. It was at waist level and then tied from a ladder to a chair and was zig-zagged all over the place,” said Herzfeld.
As the police continued to investigate the vandalism, science teachers were forced to deal with their dirty classrooms while teaching.
“On the first day back from winter break, a lot of the leftover residue was getting kicked up in the air as students moved around and worked, so it felt like there was a haze in the classroom,” said physics teacher Jen Merritt.
Residue from the dust still covers surfaces in these science classrooms.
“It was more of a nuisance than a robbery,” said Merritt.
Only a week later, on Jan. 7 and Jan. 8, the culprits returned to damage rooms 63, 64 and 65. Billinger and faculty found spraypaint and permanent marker on the walls, whiteboards, desks and clocks in all three of these classrooms. Days later, another break-in occurred.
Damage was done in the boys’ locker room, the Dugger Gym, the mural and on various walls and roofs. These absurd actions all occurred over winter break and shortly after.
These actions made a huge mess and cost the school an immense amount of money and time for clean up.
In the boys’ locker room, toilet paper and clothes were strewn all over the place. The mural and other campus surfaces were covered in spray paint and permanent marker. The Dugger Gym was also a target of vandalism.
“It’s very unfortunate when a group of students takes time and effort for a project and then careless people completely disregard their hard work. It’s completely disrespectful to the students and the campus,” said multi-media design teacher and mural project coordinator Scott Wittkop.
The school and local authorities have caught some of the culprits and uncovered additional information in regards to these acts, yet most of the investigation remains classified.
“Proper means of punishment are being made towards these people,” said Herzfeld.
Additionally, the LBHS administration is considering new means of security to prevent the repetition of such crimes.
“Surveillance cameras around the perimeter and interior of the school for security purposes would help us protect property in the future in addition to new gate locking protocols,” said Herzfeld.
Even though the vandalism occurred over a month ago, the police investigation is ongoing.