ANAHEIM : City Hires Rangers to Patrol Schools

Tired of vandalism, officials of the city’s largest elementary school district have hired rangers from the city Parks and Recreation Department to patrol school sites on weekends.

“We want people to feel free to come in and use our facilities, as long as they’re not abused,” said Meliton Lopez, superintendent of the Anaheim City School District.

Vandalism costs the district about $18,000 a year, and custodial workers usually come to work an hour earlier on Monday mornings to clear weekend debris and make repairs, Lopez said.

“We spent a lot of time picking up broken beer bottles, trash, cleaning over graffiti. That’s a waste of time,” Lopez said, adding that broken windows are also a major problem.

As part of a pilot program taking place from now until January, six rangers will patrol the district’s 21 school sites on the weekends, beginning Friday evenings and continuing through Sunday nights.

The rangers are unarmed, but have direct contact with the Anaheim Police Department if they need assistance. They will check doors and windows and issue warnings to anyone who appears to be causing problems on the school grounds.

The program will cost the district about $11,000 for the school year.

Mary Austad, assistant principal at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School in central Anaheim, said she is optimistic about the program.

“This week things seemed a little better,” she said. “We do have problems with graffiti and finding beer bottles and trash. This could be real helpful.”