£76k school vandal bill

Council foots cost of repairs after 246 incidents recorded

CASH-strapped council bosses have been forced to shell out £76,000 to repair vandalism in schools in the past year.

The damage caused to secondary and primary schools was revealed in a freedom of information (FoI) request tabled by the Tele.

There were 246 incidents recorded during the year. Craigie High racked up the highest number – 44 – with a total repair bill of £1,473.

Braeview recorded the highest bill at a staggering £7,499 for a total of 32 incidents.

Baldragon Academy had a repair bill for £4,819 for 11 instances of damage, while 12 incidents at Craigiebarns Primary cost £6,622.

Harris Academy had the same number of incidents as Craigiebarns, but the bill was £7,348.

St Ninian’s Primary had 11 incidents and a repair bill of £3,963.

There are no official reports of arrests, but a Dundee City Council spokesman said: “The council treats the issue of vandalism at schools extremely seriously.

“A partnership between the council and Police Scotland supports anti-vandalism education efforts with young people.

“And the council works hard to apply risk management measures to reduce the impact and cost of vandalism.”

Another FoI from the Tele revealed an itemised repair bill for a host of Angus schools including Carnoustie High which suffered a variety of i ncidents, with the costliest damage caused when a urinal was broken, costing £1,340.

However, many of the other items were minor incidents such as damage to an electrical socket at £85 and a light fitting costing £67.

Councillor Derek Wann, convener of Angus Council’s children and learning committee, said: “These repairs come out of the public purse.”

An Angus Council spokeswoman said: “Vandalism is completely unacceptable and it i mpacts directly on our budgets.”

Craigie High racked up 44 incidents of vandalism in the past year.