School Bus Vandalized Three Times this Year

, the small private school currently housed within the J.J. Smith Elementary School building, is growing. Consequently, administrators purchased a school bus from the Auburn School District three years ago in order to accommodate its students on about 100 field trips planned in a given school year, known as "being there" experiences which are an essential part of the school's curriculum, founder Roger Franklin said.

What administrators hadn't counted on was someone causing up to $5,000 in damages and stolen equipment from that bus while it underwent mechanical refurbishments. Since last year, Cedar River Academy has recorded four incidents of vandalism to the bus -- three of those occurred in January and February of this year, Franklin said.

As a result, the bus has yet to be utilized by the school. Each vandalism incident has resulted in broken windows, a torn up interior, and a variety of equipment being stolen including first aid, fire extinguishers and even road safety kits, he said.

At face value, the vehicle could have been randomly targeted. However, Franklin and Anne Gerken, the school's director of admissions, are wary of the fact that the bus continues to be vandalized even after being moved to three different locations in the city.

The most recent incident was reported this past week as the bus was parked on a property owned by Cedar River Academy on Semanski Street. "It was behind a six-foot tall chain-linked fence with locked gates," Franklin said. 

Franklin said he can't think of a reason why someone would target the school or school property. "If we're being targeted, I certainly hope it's just a bunch of kids who think it's a game or something...any other motivation would be really sad." 

Franklin said he has approached the school district to see of there was an arrangement to be worked out in which the bus can be stored on their facility. They declined. "We don't have a way to protect it," he said, "not in the way the school district can protect their buses."

Meanwhile, Enumclaw Police is advising Franklin to move the bus. "At this time, we have no information and no suspects," police Lt. Bob Huebler said. 

Anyone with information about this string of vandalism to Cedar River Academy's property is asked to call Enumclaw Police Department's tip line at 360-615-5707. All calls are confidential.