School Security
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* In response to repeated acts of vandalism and graffiti, not only to our school but to neighboring schools as well, students, parents and staff of Canterbury / Canterbury Magnet Elementary School have written over 200 hundred letters to LAUSD Supt. Sid Thompson and board member Julie Korenstein. The school community is extremely frustrated about what is happening to their second home.
The vandalism includes break-ins, destruction of property, theft, graffiti and arson damage. Teachers have lost personal property and have been unduly stressed. Students’ sense of school as a safe place is eroding. Parents are left wondering about the environment they entrust their children to be educated in.
Our school has decided to use $20,000 of its own funds to purchase outside security screens for classroom windows. These funds were originally intended for instructional support. Why doesn’t the district provide this and / or other security measures? Surely the cost isn’t the issue since it can’t be cost-effective to continually take the loss of cleanup and replacement expenses after each act of vandalism.
Our school is taking action. We are eliciting the help of school police and the LAPD Foothill Division. We are forming a neighborhood / school watch program. Our letters are a plea for assistance from our district leaders and community.
MARIA C. CONWAY
Pacoima
Editor’s note: The letter was signed by Conway and 39 other Canterbury faculty and staff members.
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