Vandalism, Graffiti Up Sharply

In the last six months of 1990, vandalism and graffiti on property owned by the Centinela Valley Union High School District rose by nearly 50% over the same period the year before, boosting repair costs threefold, school officials said Tuesday.

Between July and December, 1990, the district discovered 90 acts of vandalism and graffiti at its schools--Leuzinger High, Hawthorne High and Lloyde Continuation--compared to 61 incidents during the same six-month period in 1989.

It spent more than $36,000 to repair broken windows, fix plumbing and paint over graffiti in the last half of 1990, compared to $12,000 for the same period the year before.

“It’s hard to explain,” Assistant Supt. Robert Church told the trustees at a board meeting Tuesday night. “Most of the vandalism occurs in the area of graffiti and most of it is on weekends or at night.”

Church was reluctant to say whether the rise in vandalism has anything to do with a massive student walkout last March, saying, “I’d have to get information for the entire year to really evaluate” it.