IN less than a month, William Reyes Elementary School in Chalan Kanoa has been burglarized at least five times, and has lost several items, including newly issued netbooks for the students.
The first incident was discovered on Aug. 24 in the maintenance room and the latest happened yesterday with the principalâs office as the burglarâs target.
School principal Naomi Nishimura said the burglaries have âdeprived our students of valuable teaching materials.â
She added, âI am pleading with the community to help us.â
Nishimura said she has already asked the Department of Public Safety to include the school in its regular patrols.
Education Commissioner Rita A. Sablan, for her part, is discussing possible security measures with DPS.
WSR has no security guard due to lack of funding, Nishimura said.
âWe canât affordâ¦security services,â she added as she appealed to the business community to help the school.
On Aug. 25, she said they discovered a big roll of electrical wire at a recycling shop in As Perdido.
The wire and two bush-cutters were stolen from the schoolâs maintenance room, she added. They have yet to recover the bush-cutters.
The recycling shop has a security camera and footage showed the two men who sold the wire. The police have already identify these individuals, Nishimura said.
âIâve heard that they are just in the neighborhood,â she added.
The suspects were detained but are now out again, she said.
On Aug. 27, while on his routine assignment very early in the morning, the school maintenance staff member noticed a suspicious person who appeared to be carrying something while walking away from the school, Nishimura said.
They later discovered another burglary in the maintenance room.
On Sept. 4, they discovered that the doors of two first grade classrooms were open, and six brand new student netbooks and one laptop for the teacher were missing.
There were no signs of forced entry, Nishimura said, adding that some school keys were also missing.
On Sept. 17, the burglars hit two classrooms at Building C. This time, no valuables were stolen but the classrooms were âmessy and the burglars must had been looking for money, Nishimura said.
She said they immediately replaced all keys and reinforced the lock devices of the classrooms.
Last Monday, the principalâs office was ransacked â" all its cabinets were forced open and their locks were destroyed.
The suspects opened the cash box and other boxes probably looking for valuables and cash, Nishimura said.
The burglars, who stole her Sony Vaio laptop and three projectors, gained access by scaling the window of the rest room and destroying the aluminum louver panels.
Nishimura is urging community members who have seen the stolen items to inform the authorities.
She said she will also be meeting with the school PTA to discuss how all of them can help secure WSR.