Metal thieves and vandals have cost Franklin Pierce School District more than $100,000 and nearly delayed the start of classes at Collins Elementary School.
The school was targeted three times in three weeks, prompting officials to hire security guards to patrol the grounds in the evenings.
“We’re pretty fed up with it,” district spokesman Willie Painter said. “All public agencies are already in a budget crisis and these things don’t help at all.”
The first time, someone damaged several heat pumps kept outside. Then intruders stole 11 of the pumps, most of which are kept on the rooftop or inside a chain link fence.
Surveillance footage shows men wheeling the heat pumps away.
Then vandals broke into the school’s basement and sprayed a fire extinguisher. A pipe was broken and the basement flooded, nearly delaying the start of the school year.
“They’ve done quite a bit of damage,” said executive director for business and operations Ted Kilcup.
It was unknown whether the same people were breaking into Collins Elementary or if the incidents were unrelated.
School officials ultimately decided not to delay classes and students returned to Collins Elementary on Aug. 30, although there was no capability to cool the campus.
Crews repaired the heat pumps and officials hired new security.
Cost of damages was “well in the excess of $100,000,” Painer said.
Sixteen heat pumps have been stolen since July.
“The plan right now is to buy or make metal cages for the heat pumps so people have a much harder time getting at the units,” Kilcup said.
Officials are asked for the public’s input on how to prevent theft and vandalism throughout the district, which has 13 schools and serves more than 7,000 students in the Parkland/Midland area.
Pierce County sheriff’s deputies said they have made no arrests. Neighboring school districts, including Puyallup and Bethel, said they have had only minor run-ins with metal thieves this year.
Stacia Glenn: 253-597-8653
stacia.glenn@thenewstribune.com
Editor's note: The headline on this story was changed to remove the reference to classes being delayed.
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