A string of school break-ins occurred over the past few days, targeting various storage containers, the garden, JROTC, and most recently, the boys’ locker room. In an email to Lowell staff members, Principal Mike Jones noted that Lakeshore Elementary School had also been broken into this week. Jones did not cite any alleged perpetrators.

These break-ins have resulted in school property being taken or damaged. According to AP Environmental Science teacher Katherine Melvin, tool kits, containers, and emergency supplies were taken from the school garden on Monday, Jan. 22. Melvin also found that, in addition to the theft of certain materials, a considerable amount of damage was also done to the area, including disruption to the irrigation system, fence, and beehives. Likewise, Thursday, Jan. 25, JROTC teacher Stephen Hardee found the lock to the JROTC shed was broken and a new drum set was missing. According to both teachers, these break-ins have incurred unnecessary costs for the programs.

Concerns are being raised over a potential continuation of the break-ins. “My fear is that [break-ins have] happened three times this week, and I don’t know if that trend has stopped or if it’s just going… to escalate,” assistant principal Isaac Alcantar said. According to Alcantar, Lowell does not have the resources and security personnel to combat similar incidents consistently. 

In his email, Jones stated that the school is in communication with the police, Supervisor Joel Engardio, and the district office to address the issue. Jones also advised staff not to leave valuables in classrooms, as well as to lock doors and pull down any window shades. However, Melvin remains concerned about the long-term effects of the break-ins. “Anytime somebody breaks in, you feel unsafe; that’s number one,” Melvin said. “But it also costs us thousands of dollars schoolwide to fix [our resources]. So we can’t do our program; we’re trying to teach.”