Pain of class

By Tania Martin
MONBULK College has been forced to increase its security following a barrage of vandalism last week.
The school was hit by a wave of destruction when more than 50 windows were smashed last Tuesday night.
Teachers and students were disgusted when they arrived at school and found the wanton damage.
But, it didn’t end there – on Thursday night the school was hit again.
After having all the windows repaired on Thursday, teachers arrived at school the following day to discover more smashed windows.
School community liaison manager Fran Ibbott said the glass panels on the doors at the entrance of the theatre were smashed along with windows in the gym, which had only been repaired the day before.
“We are upset and really concerned about this seemingly ongoing damage to the school,” she said.
“If this keeps up we will not be able to continue to afford repairs without continued and major repercussions to the school’s programs.”
Ms Ibbott said this spate of vandalism comes on the back of the school having 40 windows smashed three weeks ago.
She said after these latest attacks the school has decided to put in better quality security cameras to combat the vandalism.
“We already have cameras but want to put in better quality ones,” Ms Ibbott said.
Assistant principal Eric Markham said the vandalism was very disappointing.
He said the cost of the repairs was a waste of public money that could be used on education.
Mr Markham said two classrooms had to be closed down while the mess was cleared away.
He said the photo media classroom was one that had to be closed down because there was glass everywhere, including all over the school’s new computers.
“It frustrating for us (the teachers) and for the students that this keeps happening,” Mr Markham said.
Ms Ibbott said Monbulk College was not the only school being targeted in the area.
She said Emerald secondary and primary schools had also seen similar attacks and something needed to be done to stop this destructive behaviour.
Emerald Primary School principal Terry Simpson said the school had more than 27 windows smashed in late October.
Mr Simpson said the vandalism was senseless and a waste of the school’s money.
He said youths are smashing the windows not in an attempt to enter the schools but to cause mayhem.
Mr Simpson said funds raised from a recent school fete had to be used to pay for the damage and that the vandalism was also costing the school more in security charges.
“We are going to have to increase our security patrols during the week but this sort of vandalism is very hard to combat.”
Monbulk Police Sergeant Alan Fincher said this latest spate of vandalism had led to increased police and security patrols in the area.
Sgt Fincher said it was disappointing that school’s funds were being wasted on replacing windows.
“They are spending thousands of dollars on repairs which could be going towards school facilities and education – it’s just being wasted on replacing windows,” he said.
“This is an enormous frustration for staff, students and the school council.”