Two Pinole Valley Schools Struck By Vandalism

Students arrived from Winter Break Monday to see tagging and vandalism at Pinole Valley schools, and some were locked out of their classrooms.

 At Stewart School, students were disgusted to find out that the locks on all exterior doors throughout the school were glued closed and profanity was painted on their play structure. It took a lot of effort and hours to get the kids into their classroom that day. Some classes, like kindergarten, spent the first half of the day having lessons in the cafeteria.

  Opening the doors would've taken longer, but Stewart School principal Carol Butcher, arrived early that morning, just before 6 a.m., and got the repair process started. A container of white craft glue with a long tip on the bottle was left behind at Stewart and was fingerprinted by police. This incident did not appear to be gang-related, and almost all is back to normal except for some lock cylinders that had to be ordered for the remainder of the doors.

At Ellerhorst Elementary, where tagging occured, there was the possibility of gang activity, said Karen Krohn, Ellerhorst's principal. She said that Pinole has two gangs, identified either by red or blue, and now maybe a new gang, given the type of tagging with gold spray paint. She urges parents to talk to their children about gangs and not allow them to wear bandanas or ball caps turned sideways or backward, as they may be mistaken for gang members.

Students were especially upset about Ellerhorst's tagging and it was removed within a couple of days. The district, Pinole police and a district safety officer all responded quickly to both school's requests. Please contact the Pinole police if you have any information on these incidents.  Collins Elementary was not affected by vandalism during this break nor during this school year.