Danette Goulet
NEWPORT-MESA -- Vandals wreaked havoc on at least half the public
school campuses in Newport-Mesa over the four-day holiday weekend,
district officials said.
At three Costa Mesa schools -- Davis Education Center, Costa Mesa High
School and the site leased to Coastline Community College -- vandals
threw manhole covers through windows and ransacked offices in search of
cash and valuables, said Eric Jetta, director of facilities and
maintenance operations for the district.
At least 50% of the district's 29 schools were vandalized to some
extent, he said.
"There was a lot of broken glass and 35% of the schools had graffiti,"
Jetta added. "I reported today that this was extremely unusual. We took a
lot of trash cans out of pools."
At Corona del Mar High School, there was extensive damage done to the
swimming pool area, he added.
When David Hughes, the recreation coordinator for the community
service department of the city of Newport Beach, arrived at the Corona
del Mar pool early Sunday morning, he found a mess.
"Someone got in over the fence, which is not such a tough feat, and
everything that was easily movable got dumped into the pool," Hughes
said. "By easily movable I mean by two, three, maybe four people --
bleachers, lifeguard chairs, a metal table. The main damage done was
someone had cut the backstroke flags down. That's about $150 worth of
damage."
Just days before, vandals defaced Newport Heights Elementary School,
spreading orange slush on the cafeteria floor, setting off fire
extinguishers, cooking a stuffed animal in a microwave and stealing $100
from a classroom, police said.
In this case, school officials said they are not sure how the vandals
got into the rooms, but police say somebody likely stole a master key.
At several school sites, damage was discovered Friday, having occurred
between Wednesday night and Friday morning, while other sites were hit
between Friday night and early Sunday morning, Jetta said.
Although police have no suspects yet, vandals are often caught when
they commit another act, or by bragging about what they've done, said
Sgt. Steve Shulman of the Newport Beach Police Department.
District officials said they will work with the police to find the
vandals.
"We do have some vandalism and it's not only costly but demoralizing,"
said Supt. Robert Barbot. "One of the things we try to do is make the
community realize that this is not the district's facility but the
community's facility, because it takes tax dollars to fix it."
