J.D. Floyd Elementary School staff members were in for a surprise upon arriving at work last Monday. Awaiting them — multiple vandalized classrooms. The culprits were two students of the Florida school — an eight- and nine-year-old.
The students entered the school through the front gates to gain access to four classrooms and a portable room. All the rooms vandalized were either left unlocked or not properly secured.
Their vandalism consisted of knocking over tables, writing inappropriate words on whiteboards, and damaging both the school and teachers’ property. School tech, like computers, were smashed, while teachers’ mementos and belongings were trashed. The damages added up to an estimated $15,000.
PACE Center for Girls uses an area of the school — one of the portable rooms — to help at-risk youth with drop-out prevention. The space was vandalized when the pair reportedly set off a fire extinguisher in the room.
“The things that they did, it was hurtful,” Principal Joyce Lewis told ABC Action News. She pointed to the destruction of irreplaceable sentimental items belonging to teachers.
Investigators identified the guilty students with video surveillance and handwriting found on the vandalized classrooms’ whiteboards. The two students, a third-grader and fourth-grader, admitted their actions to authorities.
Some parents have spoken out about appropriate disciplinary actions. One parent, Ashley Bossard, told Bay News 9, “Somebody didn’t know where those kids were or somebody didn’t care about the defiant behavior, so there’s a parent that needs to be talked to, not a kid that needs to be expelled from school.”
A spokesperson for Hernando County Public Schools told Bay News 9 the students were “disciplined following the rules in the student board of conduct.”
The students are currently pending a review for expulsion and the Hernando County School Board will determine if criminal prosecution will be pursued.
Watch the video below for more photos of the extensive damage:
Kids Vandalize School — Sources
Hernando County Sherriff’s Office
Bay News 9
ABC Action News