Burglary at Fremont Elementary cuts deep

Fremont Elementary School is reeling after $10,000 worth of computers — purchased with the help of its parent-run foundation — was stolen from classrooms late last week.

The computers were donated by the school’s parent organization, Parents and Community for Fremont.

“It is devastating. What kind of human being comes and steals from an elementary school?” Principal Christin Walley said.

District officials continue to take inventory to determine exactly what was taken, Walley said. No personal student information was stored on the stolen computers, she said, but years worth of lesson plans developed by Fremont teachers were lost.

“We are very upset, parents are very upset, understandably,” Walley said. “It is just a shame, really. They are not going to get a whole lot of money when they try to go out and sell them, and they are much more important to us.”

The computers were insured, and will be replaced in the coming months, said Glendale Unified spokesman Steven Frasher.

The incident occurred overnight Thursday, just hours after the school hosted its annual Back to School night event. Burglars forced entry into 14 different classrooms, stealing 11 desktop computers and one computer monitor, according to a Glendale police report.

Officers found several rocks and bricks that had apparently been removed from the school garden and used to smash classroom windows. They also found a computer power cord and a mouse tangled in an exterior fence on the south perimeter of the school, believed to have been the entry and exit point.

The burglary put the school community on edge, and security was beefed up for a family picnic that took place Friday night, PTA President Amy Harley said.

“It happens everywhere, but when it is on your own turf, it is terrible,” Harley said.