2 Santa Monica Schools Hit By Vandals Before Last Week Of Classes

SANTA MONICA (CBSLA) — Several classrooms will be closed to students Monday after vandals caused "significant" damage to several areas of two Santa Monica schools over the weekend.

John Muir Elementary School, 2526 Sixth Street, and Santa Monica Alternative School House, 2525 Fifth Street, suffered "significant" damage Saturday night in the library, cafeteria, stage, teacher's lounge, book room and exterior areas, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Ben Drati said in an email to parents, guardians and staff.

"We are deeply troubled by this criminal act against our beloved schools. We are working today to clean it up as much as possible, but unfortunately, a few rooms and spaces will not be usable for the last week of school," Drati said in his email.

Pictures showed black and paint splashed and dried on windows and doors, erratic lines spray painted on floors underneath papers strewn on a powdery floor showing several footprints, at least one door with a shattered window pane, and banners ripped off the ceiling of an auditorium.

"We have windows that are broke, we have technology that was damaged, we have bookcases that were knocked over," district spokeswoman Gail Pinsker said. "Just terrible damage to our schools."

Fire extinguishers had been set off on books, walls, classroom floors and in the library. Windows were also broken, furniture destroyed, rooms were flooded by leaving water running in sinks, and cans of paint were dumped on exteriors.

Muir had been set up for a fifth grade graduation ceremony in its cafeteria. School employees scrambled to clean up before the ceremony Monday morning.

This was not the first time these schools have been vandalized this school year – Drati said they have been vandalized twice since February – but this incident was the worst yet.

Unfortunately, there are no security cameras on either campus, but police say they have identified multiple suspects in connection with the vandalism -- juveniles who are not students of either school.

The damage was estimated in the tens of thousands of dollars, but nothing was taken from either school.

(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)