GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Lots of damage two children left behind when police say they broke into a Green Bay elementary school this summer.
District administrators notified Martin Elementary School parents and staff shortly after the mess was created in the east side school over two days in early July.
Captain Kevin Warych of the Green Bay Police Department tells FOX 11.
“In the investigation, we were able to look at the video surveillance of the school and realized it was young kids breaking into the school and causing damage inside the school.”
Police say the mess was the creation of a 10 and 11-year-old, who busted glass windows at one of the school’s rear entrances to get inside.
“These kids were later identified and confessed to doing the damage and entering the school without permission,” said Warych.
Because of their ages, the children weren’t cited and were turned over to their parents.
The costliest damage was to carpet in the library, which was already set to be replaced as part of a school referendum project.
Mike Stangel, the district’s Executive Director of Facilities, tells FOX 11 the costliest damage was to carpet in the library, which was already set to be replaced as part of a school referendum project.
“We’re just going to patch it in for this coming school year and then replace it next summer.”
This is the second summer in a row that kids have broken into Martin.
Police say last June a 7 and 9-year-old broke windows to get in. They say they caused between $3,000 and $4,000 worth of damage.
“Why Martin Elementary seems to be the target during the summer? I think that’s the million dollar question,” said Warych.
The school district isn’t sure either.
The district was recently awarded $835,000 to address school security.
“The security grant we received now was putting a film on the glass to prevent it from being broken easily,” said Stangel.
The district is working on applying for another grant that would do the same thing for secondary entrances, which is the type of entry police say the children broke into at Martin.
