High cost of vandalism puts district on alert
Thursday, November 30, 2006

By Eric Slagle

With damages from school vandalism and graffiti over the past five months pushing the $8,000 mark, McKeesport Area School District officials are starting to take note.

At a meeting last week, school board member Dave Donato said the district staff needs to do a better job of stopping vandalism before it happens and investigating and reporting school property crimes after they occur.

"It seems there is always someone out there who is doing these things," said Mr. Donato. "Why aren't we reporting them?"

According to Mr. Donato, who serves on the board's building and grounds committee, the district spent more than $2,212 cleaning graffiti from exterior walls and doors at White Oak, George Washington and Centennial elementary schools and Cornell Intermediate School over the summer.

Since school began two months ago, vandals have done $5,173 worth of graffiti and other damage to the boys' and girls' restrooms at McKeesport Area High School's South Hall, he said.

In October, a vandal inflicted $368 in damages to a unisex bathroom at the district's alternative school in the former East End Elementary building. The vandal demolished a towel dispenser and tore a sink off the wall.

Mr. Donato said he found that act particularly galling, considering that the limited-access restroom is supposed to be locked at all times with usage of the facility being monitored by school staff.

The restroom at the alternative school is now closed because of the damage and its future is uncertain. It was one of only two restrooms serving the building, which has an enrollment of about 75 students.

Ed Fagan, director of buildings and grounds who has worked in school maintenance for 28 years, said the recent vandalism in the district doesn't represent an upsurge in such crimes, but he is glad to see the district was interested in taking a more proactive approach to curbing it.

Superintendent Shirley Golofski said the matter would be investigated. "We'll look into the process of how students are released to use the facility and tighten up security," she said.