Fourteen new digital cameras and two desktop computers were stolen from the photo room and A-5 sometime between April 9 and 12. When Photo teachers Mark Gleason and Jennifer Hogan walked in the room Monday morning, they knew something was missing. “Mrs. Hogan asked me if all my students had checked out cameras, and only two had,” Gleason said.

According to Gleason, all the doors were locked when he left Thursday afternoon and when he returned Monday morning. To get to the cameras, the thieves had to open both the door to the room and the closet where the cameras were stored—each locked by different keys. There was no sign of forced entry so “they must have had a master key, or picked the locks,” Gleason said.

Master keys can open all doors on the periphery of Gunn buildings, but according to Gleason, only Hogan, Advanced Placement Art History teacher Wayne Hoy and himself have keys that can open the closet where the cameras were kept, and those are constantly accounted for. “Our keys are never out of our hands,” he said. Although the closet was locked, “the door had been damaged previously and may have been opened without a key,” Principal Noreen Likins said.

To prevent another break-in, the administration replaced all the locks in the photo room and considered setting up a video-surveillance camera and alarming the entire art room. “We’ve always locked up,” Gleason said. “Of course we’ll be more alert, but it’s impossible to watch over the cameras when you’re gone.” For a temporary measure, the administration pinned the doors Monday night so that they couldn’t be opened, even with a key. “It’s a reminder to us that we must be vigilant about security at all times,” Likins said.

According to Gleason each of the 14 Olympus E-520 cameras stolen cost the school around $1,000 and the computers were around $2,000 a piece. The photo department bought the cameras in January using money from a grant written by Hogan as well as student donations collected at the beginning of the year. “It takes a lot to write a grant, and it’s a pity to see her hard work go to waste,” Gleason said. “It’s a really unfair thing they did.”

To find the burglars, the Palo Alto Police Department fingerprinted parts of the art room. The photo department also gave the serial numbers of the stolen cameras to the police, who will search Ebay, Craigslist and other places that the cameras could be sold. So far, however, there are no leads or suspects. “So many people go in and out of the room a day, it’s tough to get any clue of who did it,” Gleason said.

The loss of the cameras may make it more difficult to teach photo classes next year. “We had so many people sign up for photo next year that we dropped an Art Spectrum class to make room,” Gleason said. With only five digital cameras left for all the photo classes next year, however, each student’s time with a camera will be limited. “We attempted to boost up our supplies so people who don’t have cameras can take the class,” Gleason said. “That lasted two months.”

According to Likins, the school doesn’t have the resources to replace the cameras immediately. “I feel bad for the students who wanted to take photo next year,” junior photo student Leo Chen said.

Although photo class will most likely still be open to all students regardless if they have a camera or not, photographers may have to split into groups and share the camera while completing assignments. “They may think they’re stealing from an institution and not individuals, but it does work down to the individual,” Gleason said. “It has an effect on real people.”

The main reaction from students and staff alike was disappointment. “You take precautions and lock stuff up, and then it’s just gone,” Gleason said. “I felt violated.”

If you have any information regarding the burglaries, please contact photo teacher Mark Gleason in room A-5 or at mgleason@pausd.org.