School officials say that seven children in Lewiston were responsible for a break-in at the city's Longley School this weekend that caused thousands of dollars in damages.
Superintendent Jake Langlais says that the children — ranging in age from eight to twelve— forced open a window to get into the school, which is home to adult education and other programming. Langlais says that books and materials in two classrooms were destroyed, and the students also damaged training mannequins and medical beds.
"They found some paint. And they played with the paint. And covered things with paint. They got into a serving section on the high school side of the building, where we have Next Step programming, and they ate food, dumped chocolate milks, things of that nature. Found some more paint there and spread that around," Langlais says.
The district estimates they caused between $20,000 and $40,000 worth of damage.
Langlais says a parent of one of the children involved became aware of the incident, and reported it to help law enforcement identify all the other children who caused the damage.
Langlais says staff have already cleaned up the damage, but educators were upset when they returned to their classrooms.
"Trying to make sense of it. Like, I don't know why they took this, and didn't take that. And I don't know where this thing is, or why they would take it, but it's gone. It really is just upsetting," Langlais says.
A group of students also vandalized the school last June. Langlais says he's thankful that staff have made sure to lock down their classrooms since the last break-in, as he feels students likely would have caused even more damage.
The superintendent says the district will gather more information, and students allegedly involved will be suspended indefinitely, pending a disciplinary hearing by the local school committee.
