Cleanup is underway at Paso Robles High School after vandals broke windows and scattered property across the campus this week, causing thousands of dollars in damage.
After having the vandalism from early Thursday morning assessed, the district now estimates damage to be around $50,000. They say they’ve allotted 70 hours to cleanup and repairs.
“There was a lot of broken glass, so making sure that all of that glass is picked up for the safety of students that are going to be in there," Said Scott Buller, director of information technology at the Paso Robles Unified School District. "There was actually a fire extinguisher that was sprayed off on one of the rooms and that's a lot of particulate matter that gets everywhere. We're going to need to really deep clean that classroom.”
Paso Robles Unified is expecting school to start as planned next Thursday. Technology that was damaged is being replaced with spare equipment while the broken windows are expected to be fixed by early next week.
“The entire team came over," said new Paso Robles High School Principal Megan Fletcher. "It was here, student support services were here, our SROs (school resource officers) were here, our support through Paso PD. That's our family, that's our core unit and everybody pitched in. Today we're pretty much ready to roll."
While the district is not sharing whether those believed to be involved in the vandalism were current or former students, Fletcher says they are using mentorship and upperclassmen as ways to make incoming freshmen feel welcome.
“When kids feel connected and supported, they're less likely to do things that they shouldn't be doing," Fletcher said. "You don't want to damage your home. And so if this becomes their home and they become family, they're not going to want to do anything to damage something that means a lot to them.”
“One of the benefits that we've had, even post-COVID, is a lot more funding for social and emotional supports," Buller emphasized. "So we now have counselors and mental health professionals that are working at all of our school sites. That's something that we've never had before.”
Paso Robles Police detained and booked two juveniles believed to be connected to the vandalism. Police are also asking anyone with any information on the incident to call the department at (805) 237-6464 . Anonymous tips can be made to Crime Stoppers at 805-549-STOP or by texting “SLOTIPS” and a message to CRIMES (274637).
