West High Students Face Charges, Expulsion After Vandalism

September 02, 2011|By Chris Klint | KTUU.com

Courtesy ASD

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Anchorage School District says it has placed five West High School students on emergency suspensions and recommended them for expulsion after they allegedly entered classrooms, then knocked over furniture and discharged a fire extinguisher early Thursday morning.

According to ASD spokesperson Heidi Embley, the four 11th graders and one 10th grader climbed onto West High’s roof and entered the building through a window. In addition to discharging the extinguisher, the students overturned various desks and a cabinet, threw papers across classrooms and entered the building’s underground tunnels.

Students were upset about the vandalism, and helped West High’s two school resource officers from the Anchorage Police Department in their investigation of the case.

”Having the students and staff coming together so quickly to solve this situation is an outstanding example how students and staff at West High School will not tolerate any disrespect to our school,” said West High Principal Rick Stone. “Students and staff have a high level of respect for this school and the outstanding education that happens every day at West. These types of situations are rare.”

While Embley estimates physical damages totaled only a few hundred dollars, a lot of effort was expended in resolving the incident.

“It doesn’t appear their intent was to cause significant damage but they did cause a significant disruption,” said Gardner Cobb, ASD director of Security and Emergency Preparedness. “There was some vandalism and many hours of staff time were consumed by cleaning the mess and tracking down the suspects.”

ASD Superintendent Carol Comeau condemned the vandalism, which has been a continuing problem for the district during both the school year and the summer months.

“They may have thought it was a harmless prank but it caused quite a mess at the school,” Comeau said. “Vandalism in any form is not tolerated in our schools. I applaud the students and staff who stepped forward to share information about this case and appreciate the work of the school’s SROs who were crucial to the solving of the crime.”

APD spokesperson Anita Shell says all five students have been charged with second-degree burglary, with one student receiving an additional trespassing charge due to already being under suspension at the time.

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