Rummaged drawers, scattered files, glitter-strewn floors, cooked meals and tiles spotted with feces. These and other shocking revelations greeted the employees of Kiddies’ World Academy when they arrived at work around 7:00 a.m. Tuesday to discover that the school at No. 4 Dunmore Avenue, Chippingham, had been ransacked and vandalized.
When The Guardian news team arrived on the scene, parents arriving at the school were told that classes were postponed for the day, as the police would be arriving on the scene to dust for prints and the clean up process would take 1-2 days.
In addition to breaking into the school, the vandals who are believed to live in the area, stole the school’s computer that contained personal profiles of the 70 students, its fax machine, microwave, photocopier, stereo and video cassette recorder. The robbers cooked hotdogs and warmed up frozen pizza in the school’s microwave oven. A tuck shop that adjoins the school and sells sodas and snacks was also wiped out.
Mrs. Carlene Miller, director of Kiddies’ World Academy, told The Guardian it is believed that the vandals entered the building by “picking” the lock to the rear entrance of the building.
The robbers also left messages on the school’s blackboard, including, “Dogs for life, Bain Town lives.”
Mrs. Miller said that such actions seem to be not only senseless, but also childish. “We basically figured that the age and mentality of the person are very small,” she said.
The school’s director also pointed out that it is believed that the robbers initially entered the premises with the intention to look for money, but after finding several disposable gloves that are used by employees, decided to slip them on and proceed to help themselves to whatever valuables they could find.
“We noticed that the gloves that we normally use were gone. I believe that when they came here they came looking for money, but when they found the gloves, they decided to go a little further.”
According to Mrs. Miller, the burglary could have only occurred after 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, as she and several employees visited the school from 1:00 οΎ– 4:00 p.m to prepare for the school week, leaving everything intact. However, a nearby resident of the school, who wished to remain anonymous, told Mrs. Miller and The Guardian that a young man was spotted yesterday evening around 7:00 p.m. walking around to the back of the school with a crocus sack in hand.
Another neighbour told the school that a male in a black car pulled up outside of the back gate of the school and proceeded to walk through bushes to the back entrance. He added that he asked the gentleman where he was going and was only told by the man that he was going “crabbing.” The neighbour said that he in turn responded that he was going to call the police, after which the driver of the black car left.
The Guardian was also shown large footprints of an individual who apparently wore sneaker shoes in the sand at the back of the school that leads to a nearby open gate, which may have been an escape route for the culprits.
Meanwhile, the school Director said that after making her discovery on Tuesday, she is not only upset and aggravated, but now feels as if her privacy has been invaded.
“It makes me think about the mentality of people. What has been done here was not called for and it just shows that the crime level really is rising and people don’t have anything to do. They also feel that whatever belongs to you, they have a right to take it,” she said, adding that it also seems as if the vandals do not want to see others become successful in their business.
Desiree Major, a teacher at the school, said that after yesterday’s burglary, she too feels “violated” to know that individuals invaded the premises with intentions to “destroy” the property of others.
Tameka Rolle, a K-3 teacher at the school, continuously questioned the intentions of the robbers, stating that she does not see the “sense” of individuals wanting to burglarize a pre-school.
“What could you actually have to take from a pre-school. It is very bad and awful. We could be teaching their kids and they are coming to our school to rob,” she complained.
Concerned parents Donald and Lindsay Knowles expressed their dismay at the news, as they dropped their son William off to school the previous morning. They explained that before they were able to take him out of the car, sad-looking teachers greeted them, detailing the incident.
“There will be no school today, as the school has been broken into,” they were told, after which teachers explained that parents would have to find an alternative place for their children to stay for the day. However, the burglary, according to Mrs. Knowles, did not make them feel insecure over their son’s safety and that of the other students, as the children are taught in a Christian environment.
“We hope that the culprits are caught and brought to justice,” said Mr. and Mrs. Knowles.
Mrs. Miller concluded that despite the school not having any major problems with break-ins since being established for the past 13 years, yesterday’s robbery has prompted her and her husband to beef up security on the premises.
“Times have changed and we realize that we have to keep up with the time. We may have to put in some sort of camera surveillance system to eventually put a stop to these matters,” she said.
The Police continue to investigate the matter.
By Tamara McKenzie, The Nassau Guardian
