In the wake of difficult economic times, schools in the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) have fallen victim to many thefts of computers and laptops. Burglaries at Terman Middle School and Addison Elementary School are just some of the most recent in a string of robberies of nine PAUSD schools this year.

Four laptops were stolen from the Terman P.E. offices on Nov. 11. “The laptops were in a locked cabinet inside a locked office in a locked building,” Terman Principal Carmen Giedt said. “I don’t know what else we could have done to prevent the theft.” According to Giedt, only one of the stolen computers has been recovered by the police, but it is being kept as evidence. “We’re not likely to get anything back soon,” she said. No windows or doors were broken by the intruders, and in addition to stealing the computers, the perpetrators broke into Terman’s Cafeteria, but nothing was taken. “I was very disappointed when I heard about the burglary because it is a school,” Geidt said.

Two 21-year-old Palo Alto men, Frank J. Taylor and Kyle Hopkins, were arrested for the theft. Kyle Hopkins, the son of deceased Academic Center Coordinator and active community member Albert Hopkins, graduated from Gunn in 2006 and Taylor in 2005. In addition to the laptop theft, Hopkins was also charged with possession of a large capacity magazine for a handgun that the police found while searching his house. Due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, however, no comments can yet be made about Hopkins and Taylor by school officials who knew them.

Addison Elementary suffered the same fate as Terman on Nov. 8, when a teacher noticed six laptops missing. Principal John Lents informed the school community in an email, stating that parents, teachers and school administrators are all keeping close eyes on school equipment, and are taking extra precautions to keep students safe. The school is considering installing security cameras to prevent and detect future incidences.

Many parents are equally concerned about their children’s safety as the security of school technology. Following the string of burglaries, Palo Alto Police Agent Dan Ryan said in The Palo Alto Weekly, “This trend is not something that should scare the parents. We have had an increase in residential and school burglaries and vehicle burglaries. Everyone in town should be extra careful at locking things up and checking things twice.”

Suspects in school burglaries have generally had some connection to the school. “It’s almost always someone familiar with the campus,” Principal Noreen Likins said. “There are always so many people on the school campus, that you never know.”

Gunn has not experienced any major burglary incidences for four years, according to Likins. A previous incident involving a break-in at the Student Activities Office (SAO) prompted the school to implement security measures, when may be a reason why Gunn has not been hit lately.

“Someone had removed the safe from the SAO and drilled into the top-back of it,” Likins said. “Thankfully not all the money was in the top shelf where he drilled into. We installed alarms in the computer lab, the Main Office and the Student Activities Center to prevent further incidences.”

Most of the other school-related burglaries focusing on technology were committed over weekends or at night. “The best way to protect yourself, no matter who you are, is to not leave stuff out in the open where people can see it,” Terman Assistant Principal Steven Gallagher said. “Don’t showboat your things.”