Vandals attack elementary school; break every window

The Okanagan Weekend

Days before children fill the halls for the new school year, Glenmore Elementary was struck with vandalism, costing the school district thousands of dollars.

On Monday, a staff member of Glenmore Elementary notified Kelowna RCMP of vandalism at the school at 7:42 a.m.

Upon arrival, police discovered all the windows of the school were partially broken, “as if they were hit with a blunt force object as someone was walking by,” said Cpl. Tania Carroll.

All 37 windows and two air conditioning units were broken.

The damage likely occurred the night before, said Larry Paul, secretary-treasurer of the Central Okanagan school district.

“Damaging that many windows is a lot of work,” said Paul. “It’s probably more than one individual that’s done this, and it’s very disappointing given that we’re getting ready for school, and to have that sort of attack on the school is unfortunate.”

The broken windows were all replaced and all of the damage was cleaned up within a couple of days, said Paul, adding the vandalism will not have an effect on the start of the new school year. The estimated cost of the damage is $10,000. Glenmore Elementary is one of the local schools the most vulnerable to broken windows because it has not been retrofitted with protective window shutters, said Paul.

“Given the school’s age, it is not conducive to the shutters,” he said.