School burglarized every night since October 23

Between October 23 and 30, the Kingstown Anglican School at Bay Street, Kingstown, has been broken into every night, and in an effort to restore their peace of mind, the staff at the school is reaching out to the public for help.{{more}}

An employee of the school, who preferred to remain anonymous, told SEARCHLIGHT that on Wednesday, October 24, when they arrived at school, they discovered that the school had been broken into. The following day, the school was again burglarized and this was again the case every day of this week up to press time.

“We feel so frustrated and helpless; we’ve reported each burglary to the police, but they basically say they can’t do anything about it,” another employee told SEARCHLIGHT.

The Ministry of Education has also been informed, SEARCHLIGHT understands.

Some of the items stolen from the school include: a large black transformer, school feeding program money, carpentry tools, a DVD and CD player, desktop flat screen monitor, half a bale of toilet paper, a television, and t-shirts, among other things.

“It’s really disheartening to be coming to school everyday and meeting this. It’s almost like we come to expect it now,” the first employee said.

The employee further stated that the recent string of burglaries has even caused the morale among some of the teachers to “get very low.”

Certain grades of the school had to be relocated to the old glove factory building on Bay Street, just opposite the main school building, in April this year, after a fire at Eustace Auto Supplies caused extensive damage to the original school building.

“The problem is that the roof of the office is open, so the person just jumps over and then unlocks the door to get out. We’ve asked both the Ministry and BRAGSA (Buildings, Roads and General Services Authority) to assist in sealing off the office with a few pieces of plywood, but they both claim that they have no money at this time,” the second employee said.

The staff is now seeking the help of the public to enhance the security of the school.

In a letter dated October 31, and sent to businesses, Principal Kenneth Burgin said “It is frustrating, and at times it seems a daunting task for us as principal and staff to continue operating under these conditions.”

Some of the items requested are: 26 sheets of 5/8 plywood; two pieces of 2 x 4 x 24; 16 pieces of 2 x 4 x 16; one pound of three inch wall nails; four pounds of three inch nails; one sheet of perspex; two night latches and seven burglar bars, 3 (3 x 4) and 4 (4 x 4).

One employee said the thieves seem to enter by prying open louvres at the back of the building, which is hidden by a bushy area of land.

The employee further told SEARCHLIGHT that another section of the school, which is housed at the Annexe at Victoria Park, is also broken into on a regular basis.

“…Somebody always breaks into the kitchen and steals some of the food set aside for the school feeding program, but we at the main block are not accustomed to this…,” the employee stated.

The employee said both locations of the school are supposed to have night watchmen, but stated that “they never seem to see anything.”

The employee pleaded with persons to assist by providing the building materials and for the owner of the plot of land behind the school to cut the grass.(KW)