“It’s covered, it’s secure, it’s locked, it’s dry.”
That’s how Brooklyn Elementary School Principal Erica Black described a fenced-in storage area behind the school.
Students at the Comox school store their scooters there during the day but recently the school and parent advisory council were also storing thousands of dollars worth of cedar.
Then someone stole a third of it over the weekend.
“It’s sad for all of us,” said Black. “I think any time you take from children or take from a school, a lot of people don’t just say that’s OK we forgive you.”
The Parent Advisory Council (PAC) had received a discount on the wood and paid $3,000 for the load.
“Extreme disappointment and it’s very disheartening that an individual or individuals would come on to school property and take wood that was intended for three or four projects for our kids that took us years to raise money for,” said PAC Executive member Brooke Finlayson.
The theft likely required a truck or trailer to be backed up against the school as the thief or thieves took the expensive wood that measured in various sizes.
“It’s a lot of volunteer work and it’s a lot of hard work and it’s a lot of money parents put in for fundraising and a lot of volunteer hours,” added Finlayson.
The wood was going to be used for a “gaga ball” pit, more planter boxes for each class and fencing around an outdoor classroom.
Black admits the door to the storage cage is easy to jimmy open sometimes and might not have been pushed completely shut on Friday.
“So I did put out a statement just to say this happened to us over the weekend and hoping I’d be able to appeal to anybody who heard something or saw something,” said Black.
People are asked to call Comox Valley RCMP at 250-338-1321 or the school at 250-339-2232 if they have information about the theft.
Dean Stoltz
