Anchorage Daily News

Anchorage schools have had their own spate of mischief and destruction to school property.

Four years ago, a 12-year-old set fire to an Eagle River school playground, causing $200,000 in damage. Another year, teenagers set fire to gasoline they poured down a portable toilet, causing $130,000 in damage when a nearby school building went up in flames. And as recently as a couple of weeks ago, two middle school kids broke into an elementary school, causing $4,000 in damage by, among other things, spraying fire extinguishers.

Anchorage public schools have experienced vandalism problems for years. Officials say it is simply par for the course in a large district of 100 schools and nearly 50,000 students. The district even allocates $300,000 a year in its budget to clean up shattered glass, graffiti and other debris left by vandals.

What vandals often don't realize, though, is that what often starts as a prank can have long-lasting and expensive repercussions, said the school district's risk manager, Mike Klawitter.

"Because the juveniles are protected in the court system, that word doesn't go out about what happens to these kids after they get caught," he said. "There are some really bad consequences of their actions. ... We hold their feet to the fire."

Kids face expulsion, juvenile jail time and reimbursing the schools. Sometimes, after they turn 18, the state can garnish their Permanent Fund dividends or other income.

Their parents also face paying tens of thousands of dollars back to the school.

Anchorage police Lt. Paul Honeman said police look at the destruction of school property as they would any other property crime.

In 2004, the Alpenglow Elementary School playground was burned to the ground by a 12-year-old. It was one of the most expensive cases of vandalism in Anchorage school history. A judge ordered the boy's parents to pay about $30,000, Klawitter recalled. The family, however, moved out of state and avoided paying, he said.

Alpenglow is now outfitted with security cameras, as are more than three dozen schools, said George Vakalis, assistant superintendent for support services.

Several years ago, teenagers mimicking something they saw on the television show "Jackass" pulled a prank at Bartlett High School and set fire to a portable toilet. A nearby relocatable classroom caught fire too, causing extensive damages. The teenagers were charged and their parents ended up paying the district about $30,000, Klawitter said.

Insurance companies, both for the district and the vandals' parents, often get involved and pay part of the damages. The district's insurance policy for vandalism has a $100,000 deductible, Klawitter said.

In 2003, a state law passed limiting what the district could recover from the parents or guardian of a minor who destroyed property. Depending on whether parents have insurance, the amount is either $15,000 or $25,000. In 2006, the district unsuccessfully tried to amend the law so it could go after the parents for more.

Just how much the district is able to recover in restitution was not clear Monday. From 2002 to 2005, the district incurred $840,000 in damages but recovered just $1,700 in restitution, according to previous media reports.

"Sometimes the collection effort goes on for years," Klawitter said. "We get checks from some kids (who have long left the district) for $100 a month. ... Oftentimes, it trickles in over the course of many years."

Find Megan Holland online at adn.com/contact/mholland or call 257-4343.

• Fairview Elementary: $50,000 in damage after playground set on fire in June 2007.

• Chinook Elementary: $15,000 in damage after playground set on fire in April 2007.

• South High: $1,500 in damage after windows broken in September 2006.

• Eagle River Elementary: $20,000 in damage after playground set on fire in 2005.

• Susitna Elementary: $130,000 in damage after vandals lit fires in the playground twice in two weeks in 2005.

• Alpenglow Elementary: $200,000 in damage after playground set on fire in 2004.

• Scenic Park Elementary: $45,000 in damage by two teens who twice torched the playground in 2004. Recent school vandalism

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