St. Luke's Methodist Primary School was looted by thieves over the weekend who made off over $600 in classroom equipment. And while that relatively small theft doesn't normally make it on the evening news, trust us this wasn't the first or the second time the school has been burglarized. In fact as Keith Swift found out today, Lake I's proudest school is under constant attack by thieves and vandals.
Bernadine Pollard, Principal
"It seems that when we think we're going forward, making some steps forward, we're taking ten backwards and we just finished accumulating some more stuff for our school and then we have to go back and get back the same items. We already have to work under undue strain and have to go through these things on a daily basis because since September they have been coming in regularly."
Saint Luke's Primary School Principal Bernadine Pollard has had enough, and with good reason. Burglars have hit the school six times since August, stealing hundreds of dollars in books, vital kitchen utensils along with plates and spoons used to feed one hundred students daily, fans, and just about anything they could get their hands on.
Bernadine Pollard,
"They vandalize the kitchen, they take out the utensils, and day we came in and the cups and the plates and spoons that the children use to eat from was gone so we had to go and replace them. We had to shut down the kitchen for like two days in order replace these items."
The most recent hit was over the weekend when the burglars pried open the aluminum windows of the temporary standard six building which sits right behind the Lake I police booth.
Bernadine Pollard,
"Somebody alerted the police men and they informed the librarian who then came and they looked at the situation and saw that there was an attempted burglary. They didn't take anything but when the teachers returned to school yesterday morning they found the louvers pried open which is indication that it wasn't an adult that went in, it was a child. Somebody put a child in and that person opened the door inside and stolen were two wall fans and an electric water cooler."
And with their water cooler gone - standard six students now have to go this bucket for a drink of water. The burglars also left this one fan behind. It's incredibly frustrating for Principal Pollard who has seen her school looted and vandalized. But it's gone farther than that: the thieves don't just steal furniture and equipment: -they have defecated in the classrooms.
Bernadine Pollard,
"These are sick people in the community coming in and just taking away the things that the children are using. Stealing those things is like stealing from the children and from themselves and the community because when these things are stolen how do we get them back. We need to go back to the parents and they are the ones who have to support us with our fundraising. The public needs to be aware of these kind of stolen items when they are approached by people to buy them because they are only encouraging them to continue."
Continue stealing fans, water coolers, kitchen utensils, and maybe ultimately the education of 753 students who attend St. Luke's.
Police have made no arrest yet in any of the six burglaries since September. The school does have a security guard but he isn't posted at the temporary building which again sits right behind a 24 hour police booth.
Anyone with information on the burglaries can call the crime stoppers hotline at 0-800-922-tips. Remember that a cash award is given for information that leads to an arrest.
