District Denounces Antisemitic, Anti-LGBTQ+ Vandalism Found at 4 Schools Monday

Updated Aug. 19 at 7:30 p.m. to include comments by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington (JCRC)

Hate vandalism at two Montgomery County high schools and two elementary schools greeted staff on the first day back to school for teachers Monday.

“A number of our schools were illegally vandalized with politically charged graffiti, antisemitic iconography (including swastikas), and, in some instances, anti-LGBTQ+ language,” said a Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) spokesperson.

The vandalism occurred at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, Thomas Wootton High Schol in Rockville and Strathmore Elementary School in Silver Spring and Fallsmead Elementary School in Rockville.

This follows recent antisemitic graffiti that was spray painted at Bethesda Elementary School where the Bethesda Farmers Market was being held.

Principals are asking staff to report these incidents and also to provide “the supportive resources necessary to address the harm and anxiety these actions may have caused,” the spokesperson said...

District Denounces Antisemitic, Anti-LGBTQ+ Vandalism Found at 4 Schools Monday - Montgomery Community Media (mymcmedia.org)

Vandalism, Police Training Take Over Abandoned MOCO School. Board of Education Allows School to be Vandalized... #RollingwoodElementarySchool

Chevy Chase residents are concerned about vandalism at the old Rollingwood Elementary School after a French international school moved out.

...Neighbors were caught off guard in early February when the Montgomery County Police Department used the vacant school grounds for SWAT training. One resident who was out for a jog saw a police officer point an assault rifle at her during the training session.

Other residents have seen teenagers climbing in and out of broken windows at the old Rollingwood Elementary School, which is owned by Montgomery County Public Schools. Neighbors are worried teens are using the vacant building at 3200 Woodbine Street —adjacent to scenic Beach Drive and parks along Rock Creek — as a gathering place to take drugs and engage in other dangerous activities...

...Another Rollingwood resident, who asked not to be identified, told Patch that "it’s fair to say I am less-than-impressed with MCPS's efforts in communicating with the residents of the nearby blocks about the school overall — security, planned events, future plans, or otherwise."..

..."When walking around the building, it was obvious that all doors are open and unlocked, many windows are now broken, and the inside of the building is trashed," he told his neighbors. "Some windows are even intentionally blacked out with trash bags, suggesting they want to conceal their activities further."..

Vandalism, Police Training Take Over Abandoned MOCO School | Bethesda, MD Patch

Graffiti found at Pyle Middle School contained racist and homophobic slurs, antisemitic symbol

Graffiti discovered at Pyle Middle School this summer contained antisemitic symbols and both racial and homophobic slurs, Pyle Principal Christopher Nardi wrote in an email to The Black & White. 

New information about the content of the graffiti emerged after police arrested and charged two boys in late August in connection with three separate instances of vandalizing a retaining wall behind the school.

According to a police press release, school security first encountered the graffiti during night patrol on June 25 after witnessing two individuals fleeing the scene by bicycle. The Black & White has verified that graffiti from the June 25 act of vandalism depicted the f-slur and sexually explicit drawings. 

The July 16 act of vandalism took place on the school’s walls, basketball court and track, and included swastikas and the n-word, according to Nardi. The perpetrators graffitied the school a third time on August 21, defacing a wall near the school’s baseball field, according to police...

Graffiti found at Pyle Middle School contained racist and homophobic slurs, antisemitic symbol – The Black and White

Two Bethesda Juveniles Arrested on Vandalism Charges

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Gaithersburg, MD - Two juvenile males from Bethesda have been arrested, following multiple vandalism incidents at Pyle Middle School.

On Sunday, June 25, at approximately 11:35 p.m., Montgomery County Police 2nd District officers were called to the 6300 block of Wilson Lane in Bethesda, for the report of a vandalism that just occurred.

 The responding officer spoke with school security, who stated they witnessed two juvenile males painting graffiti on the back of the school building. They were seen leaving the area on bicycles.

The second incident occurred on Saturday, July 20, at the same location. The responding officer met with the school principal, who stated two male juveniles were seen spray painting vulgarities on the school walls, basketball court and track.

The principal believed the individuals appeared to be the same subjects involved in the first vandalism at the school.

Officers were called to the school again, on Sunday, August 21. Responding officers discovered that a wall near the baseball field had been vandalized with spray paint.

During the course of the investigation, two juvenile males were identified and charged on August 24 and August 26, with three counts of malicious destruction of property, related to the vandalisms on the above dates. The juveniles were released to their parents and their cases are now being handled by the Montgomery County Department of Juvenile Services. Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) may apply disciplinary measures in accordance with the MCPS Student Code of Conduct.

 

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Release ID: 22-434
Media Contact: S.D. Goff 
Categories: vandalism

Montgomery County Maryland (montgomerycountymd.gov)

'They're killing us.' School break-ins up 100% in Montgomery Co. over this time last year

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (ABC7) — School break-ins are up 100 percent in Montgomery County when compared to this time last year, Montgomery County Police Department statistics show.

Between January 1 and April 30, 2019, eight schools were burglarized across Montgomery County. Yet, between January 1 and April 16 of this year, there have been 16 school burglaries.

Police data shows 62.5 percent of the 2020 school break-ins have taken place between March 1 and April 16. Authorities believe COVID-19 boredom is a primary culprit for the increase.

"A lot of it is juveniles thinking this is a cool thing to do, and it's just not," said Capt. Tom Jordan, a spokesman for the Montgomery County Police Department. "People just having too much time on their hands."..

https://wjla.com/news/local/theyre-killing-us-school-break-ins-up-100-in-montgomery-co-over-this-time-last-year?fbclid=IwAR24nitXcPISxIVSAAXKrIJcFEaC0cc8OOsvhyH89Oww25tHdvLOufMi8-Q

NEW: School break-ins are up 100% in MoCo when compared to this time last year, police department statistics show.

Between Jan. 1, and April 30, 2019, eight schools were burglarized across MoCo.

Between Jan. 1, and April 16, of this year, there have been 16 school burglaries. pic.twitter.com/owfaFKtHfd

— Kevin Lewis (@ABC7Kevin) April 24, 2020

Gazette Letter: Shocked, disgusted at vandalism #BeverlyFarms #Potomac

Montgomery Child Care Association Inc. has provided child care and early education to the families of Montgomery County for over 40 years. MCCA takes an active role in supporting the communities that we serve and is dedicated to providing high quality and affordable child care.
This December, on the Sunday before New Year’s, we discovered that a school bus at one of our programs located in the Beverly Farms neighborhood in Potomac had been vandalized. The vandals entered the bus, used the fire extinguisher to spray foam all over the interior of the bus, and then defecated on the driver’s seat...

http://www.gazette.net/article/20140115/OPINION/140119700/1014/shocked-disgusted-at-vandalism&template=gazette