Elementary school break-in more than a financial loss

ESCONDIDO —— One week after thieves stole about $50,000 in
computer equipment from Central Elementary School, staff members
and students are lamenting more than the material loss —— three
years' worth of work and information are now gone.

The thieves stole both the school's server and backup server, as
well as 20 laptops and some video-conferencing cameras, said
Principal Marta Baker. She said the district is helping the school
to replace the stolen equipment and the school's insurance will
cover the cost, but what the computers contained was
irreplaceable.

The thieves stole "three years' worth of work we'll never get
back. That's the worst part about it," Baker said.

At about 1 a.m. on Sept. 21, the school's silent alarm system
was triggered, she said. Although security personnel went to the
school, they didn't see anything suspicious.

The next day, staff members saw that a window had been broken
and the equipment stolen, Baker said. She said all of the computers
were Apple computers.

A spokesperson for the Escondido Police Department said
Wednesday afternoon that no information on the case could be made
available until Thursday.

Among the information that had been contained on the hard drives
of the two servers were student projects, templates designed by the
school's technology teacher as guides for teachers, and the record
of how many points had been received by students for a school
reading program, Baker said.

She said the school has increased its use of classroom
technology in recent years. Many of the school's students come from
low-income families, Baker said, so they have few opportunities to
use technology outside of school.

The break-in has affected what teachers and students can do now
in the classroom, she said.