BUENA PARK : Family Agrees to Pay Damages to Schools

The family of two students involved in vandalizing two schools with graffiti has agreed to pay $3,319 to Buena Park School District.

District trustees agreed Monday night to accept the payment.

Eight students were accused of causing more than $13,000 damage to Arthur F. Corey Elementary School and Buena Park Junior High School in January. The school district filed a civil lawsuit in February against the students and their parents to recover the costs.

District officials said the students etched monikers on classroom windows and used spray paint and pens to write graffiti.

Supt. Jack Townsend said the district is pleased that one family has agreed to settle.

“This was a major case. It just wasn’t a little bit of graffiti on the wall, but a willful act of destruction of school property,” Townsend said. “We were anxious to pursue this vigorously and we’re pleased we’re beginning closure to the issue.”

Val Fadely, counsel for the Orange County Department of Education, which is representing the school district, said, however, that the district has not yet received the payment.

The lawsuit seeking to recover the cost of graffiti damage at a school site is the first of its kind in the county, officials said. The district will use the settlement to replace windows ruined by the etching.

To arrive at the settlement, Fadely said, the $13,275 in damages was divided among the eight students involved, with each student and his family responsible for $1,659.

Fadely said one other family has tentatively agreed to settle. If settlements are not reached, the lawsuit will be pursued in court.

“We’re not blowing smoke, we’re serious,” Townsend said.