Vandals have targeted Kerrisdale elementary and Kerrisdale annex in recent months, sparking concern about further damage over the summer break.
The problem started at the annex at 3250 West 43rd Ave. about a year and a half ago and then moved to the elementary school at 5555 Carnarvon St.
Principal Carol Andison said it's the worst vandalism she's seen in her eight years at the elementary school. A crack pipe and expensive empty bottles of liquor have been found on the property.
"It's just the level of vandalism--it's the fact that they want to destroy things. They burnt the staircase to our outbuilding, which is a heritage building," Andison said. "Then, of course, they're stealing those recycling containers from back lanes and burning those. They could burn our school down, right? And it's the defecating and urinating everywhere--it's disgusting."
Parent advisory committee co-chair Alex Coleman is equally troubled. She noted that a PAC member spotted a bunch of kids at the annex one night and called police, but no one responded. "We're hoping that when the police department does get calls they take it seriously--that they should come and investigate," she said.
Coleman added that the elementary school grounds are treed and it's difficult to spot troublemakers without walking the property. "We'd also like the neighbours to be a little bit more aware of what's going on, and if they do hear a ruckus at the schools that they phone it in."
A device called a Mosquito, which emits a high-pitched sound that's supposed to irritate young people, was installed at the annex and more recently at the elementary school.
"We're going to see how that works," Coleman said. "But these kids will just move to another school, right?"
Andison said the Mosquito can also bother neighbours. The device installed at the annex has already been adjusted to address concerns.
Vandalism to Kerrisdale elementary totalled $2,152 this school year--$1,244 for broken windows and $908 for graffiti, according to preliminary figures, which may not include recent damage. Damage to the annex totalled $3,102--$2,105 for windows and $997 for graffiti.
Vandalism is a problem across the school district. The annual tally hovers around $400,000, according to Doug McClary, the VSB's manager of maintenance and construction. That figure doesn't include large claims such as the half-million-dollar hit the district took a few years ago when an arsonist started a fire at the heritage building at Carleton elementary.
This year, damage to Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»schools adds up to $369,000 based on early numbers, of which $242,000 is for broken windows. "What happens with vandalism is you seem to have an area of the city that seems to almost come under attack for a while and then you have to focus your efforts on reducing those attacks in that area," McClary said.
Power metal shutters, which are costly, have been installed at some problem schools.
"If you've got a school repeatedly seeing window glass vandalism, these shutters can pay for themselves in three to five years," McClary said.
Andison hopes the situation improves at Kerrisdale elementary. "I just think it's a place to party. It's secluded. The unfortunate thing is at some point, if it continues, we'll have to put up those big ugly fences around and lock it all up, which mean it's not available to the neighbourhood."
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