Vandals’ work evident at schools

Sue Doyle

NEWPORT BEACH -- Vandals hit schoolyards this weekend, setting a small

fire in one classroom and creating problems on two other campuses,

authorities said.

There was no damage to the classroom at Newport Heights Elementary

School, where police said someone stuck a lighter through a partially

open window and ignited some paper art decorations between Friday evening

and Monday morning.

Newport Beach police Sgt. Mike McDermott said authorities have no leads

on who set the fire, or any suspects in the two other vandalism

incidents. However, police do not believe that all three schools were hit

by the same person or group.

At Carden Hall School, a private school, someone climbed onto the roof

between Saturday night and Sunday and urinated on the principal’s desk

through an open skylight.

And at Corona del Mar High School, between 3 p.m. Friday and 7:30 a.m.

Saturday, a vandal sprayed profanities in gold paint across the walls and

knocked over large trash bins.

The incidents follow a typical trend that police and schools expect

toward the end of the school year. However, what were once traditional

senior pranks in years past have evolved into something more serious,

McDermott said.

“A lot of people say it’s juvenile hi jinks, but it’s really not. In some

cases, it’s serious property damage,” he said.

In recent months, three other school fires have been investigated as

arson cases.

Last month, flames consumed $1,000 worth of school equipment in a storage

building at Corona del Mar High. In April, Corona del Mar High officials

reported two separate fires inside boys’ bathrooms.

“The stuff we see here causes permanent damage,” McDermott said. “In the

arson case, this could have been a loss of human life.”

Other incidents were less dangerous, but still shocking to employees who

later discovered them.

At Carden Hall School, a staff member discovered the damage to the

principal’s desk. Also, a fire extinguisher was discharged in the boys’

bathroom and a chair was hoisted up a flagpole.

The school was preparing for its graduation ceremony and had extra chairs

stored there. Many were thrown throughout the campus.