Vandalism continues being an issue

Maddy Kresal, Reporter

In early February, the boys bathroom upstairs was vandalized once again. In 2014, a similar incident happened and it resulted in closed doors and no suspects brought forward. The vandalism that has been taking place has grabbed many people’s attention and has affected the school.

“It is disappointing that students do this to their own bathroom. It is an inconvenience for all students when the bathrooms are limited due to vandalism. It is also costly,” Principal Bryant Bednareksaid. 

Not only does it cost money, it also takes away extra time for the custodians. 

“Throughout the day the custodial and maintenance staff have certain things they need to do. This helps to keep the school safe and also clean. When items are vandalized they need to be taken care of immediately so the bathrooms can continue to be used,” Director of Building and Grounds Josh Youngbauer said. “These problems can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour to fix. If something is not repairable there may need to be parts that have to be ordered. This can shut things down even longer.” 

During the time of the incident, precautions were taken in finding out who had vandalized the boys bathroom. Cameras had been checked to see who went in there during that time and the staff had decided to lock up the bathroom doors so it could be repaired.

“We have had to replace faucets, soap dispensers, flush valves and parts on the stall dividers,” Youngbauer said.

 On a daily basis there is minor damage to objects around the school. The staff had to come up with a new solution to get the vandalism under control.

“We are going to have staff frequent the bathrooms more often and track which students are leaving class,” Bednarek said.

According to School Liaison Officer Micheal Bennett, the police do not handle vandalism issues and these issues are only dealt with by the principal unless punishment is out of their hands. 

“The punishments could be restitution, suspension and possible legal charges,” Bednarek said. “I’m frustrated because the school belongs to all of us. You wouldn’t do this to your bathroom at home, so why do it here?”

Boys that have used the bathroom are also upset that someone had to ruin it for all. 

“It’s annoying that people can’t just use the bathroom for what it’s supposed to be used for. When you vandalize property it ruins things for other people who haven’t even done anything,” sophomore Ethan-Zieglar Cairns said. 

Bednarek encourages anyone with information to do the right thing and report it.