Vandalism bill for west increases

A few troublemakers are costing taxpayers more than $373,000 in vandalism bills at West Auckland schools, a principal says.

Glen Eden Primary School principal Donna Solijan said schools were always open for community use but it was the work of a few that tarnished that relationship.

The primary school was among the worst hit by vandals in 2017. Its vandalism grant of $3,909 soared to another $10,372 when the school was broken into 10 times in two months by four kids last year.

The troublemakers, aged between 9-15 years, were responsible for more than $8000 worth of broken windows where 31 iPads, an XBox and games were stolen.

Police said the youth were also linked to burglaries

‘‘Please look after our schools.’’

Lucas Hemi, Sunnyvale School

at three other schools in Glen Eden, Titirangi and New Lynn.

‘‘Literally hundreds of people use this beautiful kura and look after it,’’ Solijan said.

The Ministry of Education allocated vandalism grants to each school annually, based on the average cost of previous vandalism repairs for a school.

A total of 48 schools in the Waita¯ kere Ward received $355,032 of vandalism grants in 2017, figures released under the Official Information Act revealed.

Three schools – Birdwood, Sunnyvale and Glen Eden primary schools – received a grant top of $18,824.

Sunnyvale School’s $5,072 vandalism grant doubled to $10,528 due to toilet block fire, broken gates and graffiti.

Caretaker Lucas Hemi said the school was an easy target for vandals because it was used as a shortcut to Sunnyvale Train Station. There had also been broken windows and taps, kicked-in holes on the sides of classrooms and forced entry into classrooms.

‘‘We do like to have the community using the school grounds after school and during the weekends as they tend to keep an eye on what goes on but stuff still happens.’’

The school tried locking the school gates and denying access during the holidays but people always found a way to get in by cutting fences and breaking the gates, he said.

‘‘Our school is open for the community to use ... but for the sake of the kids, please look after our schools.’’