Vandalism of the Green Roof
Friday, June 11, 2010
Mr. Hartman, a science teacher at Ashland High School, is in the act of creating a green roof at our school. Mr. Hartman and his students have planted, and are taking care of, around 1,500 plants in the fenced-off area near the staff parking lot. Recently, someone has been vandalizing the area.
“I went to a lot of trouble to put this together,” comments Mr. Hartman as he shows me the area and the tiny baby plants. His disappointment is apparent, and for good reason. Mr. Hartman explains how there were three days of vandalism. After the first two days they hired guards to protect the area since the six-foot easy-to-hop fence wasn’t keeping anyone out. The guards cost approximately $1,400. And, to add to the $1,400, the cost for replacing the slashed screens of Mr. Lebo’s room cost about $40. On top of those prices, the school is considering building the fences up high enough so they touch the roof on two sides, and on the third putting barbed wire. So all that added together is… lots of money. You do the math.
There has been no one found guilty of the crime so far, and charges have been pressed. However, on the Thursday before Memorial Day weekend -- the second day of vandalism -- Mr. Hartman did some detective work. He found fingerprints on some of the 11 turned-over trays and called the police. The police came, pulled out their fingerprint detective tools and may have found the kids responsible for the mess.
Several kids have been interviewed, but not enough information has been found out to press charges or accuse anyone. No one knows who the suspected victims are at this point except persons of high authority.
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