Major Vandalism Increases at County Schools

A recent rash of destructive rampages through Ventura County schools signals a disturbing rise in the number of costly vandalism incidents, according to officials and superintendents throughout the county.

Major incidents this summer include:

* A $60,000 arson fire Aug. 2 at Madera Elementary School in Simi Valley.

* The $30,000 destruction on July 26 of a computer lab and four school buildings in Ojai.

* The $18,000 vandalism on July 8 of several classrooms at Walnut Elementary School in Newbury Park.

“There has been an increase in larger cases of vandalism,” said Bob Powers, claims administrator for the 22 school districts in Ventura County. “I think there’s just more hostility of students against school systems.”

From 1986 to 1989, Powers said, there were one or two incidents of school vandalism a year that cost more than $5,000 each.

But in the past year, there have been at least four school vandalism incidents in the county that have cost more than $15,000 each. An arson fire in October at Hueneme High School in Oxnard caused $600,000 damage.

Meanwhile, petty vandalism continues. District officials said they routinely repair broken windows, change locks plugged with glue and paint over graffiti.

“It’s just part of the maintenance,” said Richard Canady, assistant business manager of the Oxnard Union High School District. “Graffiti has gotten so bad that one custodian checks each campus each morning to stamp out graffiti.”

But it’s become increasingly difficult to clean up and deal with the more serious incidents.

The October fire at Hueneme High School burned the administration building so thoroughly that a trailer was set up during the 1989-90 year to house offices for the principal, vice principal, school nurse and counselors, Canady said.

Three teen-agers were convicted of arson. Two were sentenced to the California Youth Authority, and one spent 180 days at the Colston Center, a jail facility for minors, in Ventura.

Canady, who has been affiliated with schools for 30 years, said vandalism “has been getting dramatically worse the past two to three years.”

The rampage through Ojai a little more than a week ago shocked administrators of the Ojai Unified School District, which had suffered little damage at the hand of vandals, Supt. Andrew Smidt said.

“I was disappointed and surprised,” Smidt said. “I’ve been a superintendent here six years and never had vandalism of that magnitude.”

The vandals, who have not been caught, smashed 10 of 30 computers and ruined two video screens at Nordhoff High School. They smashed $100 worth of windows at Matilija Junior High School, $2,000 worth of windows at Mira Monte Elementary School and $1,000 worth of windows at district headquarters.

The windows have been replaced, and computers will be installed in time for the start of the school year, Smidt said.

The Conejo Valley Unified School District was damaged in two major vandalism incidents this summer, Supt. Bill Seaver said.

The people responsible for damaging Walnut Elementary School in Newbury Park, where crayons and paint were used to write derogatory messages about the principal on school walls, have not been caught.

The vandals also knocked holes in walls, poured plaster of Paris into sinks and ripped through chalkboards with hammers.

About three weeks later, on July 28, vandals broke into Weathersfield Elementary School in Thousand Oaks and caused $450 worth of damage. They took a stereo from a classroom and threw it on the roof, broke seven windows and left fecal matter in the sink, Seaver said.

The vandals are still at large, he said.

Seaver said that such incidents are out of the ordinary and that he could think of no reason the school had been hit. However, he said such crimes may come in waves.

Vandals damaged Mar Vista Continuation School in Ventura on Monday and did several hundred dollars worth of damage by smashing windows and tipping over desks and a piano, said Richard Welcher, assistant superintendent of business for the Ventura Unified School District.

He said vacations tend to be worse than the school year for vandalism because youngsters have more time on their hands.

But he said the Mar Vista vandalism was relatively minor compared with the episode a year ago when two teen-agers flooded the gym at De Anza Middle School with about seven inches of water--ruining the floor and causing more than $100,000 in damage.

District officials said they had no definite explanation for the increase in vandalism, but they speculated that teen-agers may be feeling more hostility, be reacting to publicity about other vandalism or simply be bored.

Many of the districts try to keep a close watch on their campuses, especially during summer months.

The Ventura Unified School District monitors its 29 facilities with some on-site guards as well as with closed-circuit televisions, Welcher said.

Some schools are kept lighted. And the district tries to repair vandalism and paint over graffiti as soon as possible to prevent copycat crimes, he said.

Officials said it is difficult to stop vandals because their crimes are often impulsive and it is difficult to find trends. The schools may be vandalized by returning graduates, students, students from rival schools or adults who steal to support their drug habits, Welcher said.

“You’re a big sitting target,” Welcher said. “And it’s difficult to have someone sitting there watching 24 hours a day.”