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photo by Steve VanGunda
Faculty discovered vandalism to Trinity Episcopal Day School’s new school bus Friday morning. Tire tracks were also found on the school’s football field.
Trinity bus, field hit by vandalism
Published Saturday, May 17, 2008
NATCHEZ — Typical end of the school year teenage hijinks went a step too far Thursday night at Trinity Episcopal Day School.
School personnel discovered Friday morning that someone had vandalized the football field and brand new school bus.
Natchez Police Chief Mike Mullins said cars caused the damage to the football field.
Photo by Steve VanGunda
Faculty discovered vandalism to Trinity Episcopal Day School’s new school bus Friday morning. Tire tracks were also found on the school’s football field.
“One or two vehicles went on the football field and spun their tires and did a lot of damage to the football field,” Mullins said.
Delecia Carey, head of the school, said the bus has been dented on the side and some of the mural that runs along the bottom portion of the bus has been scratched.
She said the dent appears to be from another car running into the side of it.
Carey said she has faith in the Natchez Police Department to find out who the wrongdoers are.
“I’m confident they’ll take care of it,” she said. “I’m sure it’s teenagers that just made a bad decision.
“I feel bad for the kids who were involved because I know it was just something that seemed funny at the time and actually is really quite serious.”
Though fixing the damage is not anything Carey is worried about, she said she and the Trinity students are still upset.
“They’re sad,” she said of the students. “They’re very proud of their school and they feel bad.”
She’s told the students that no permanent damage has been done to either the bus or the field.
The school bus was purchased less than two months ago, and is reportedly the safest bus in Mississippi because of seat belts. It also has a mural along the outside that depicts photos from school events.
The mural was designed by J & M Digital Corporation and Carey said the design has been saved and it can be fixed.
“It’ll be difficult but not impossible,” Carey said. “J&M saved everything so if there was damage by an accident or vandalism it would be possible to repair.”
Mullins said the police department will soon have an estimate on how much damage truly was done in financial terms.
“We have not determined repair cost at this time,” he said.
He said the matter is being investigated and if the damage is over $500, the charges against those responsible will be felony malicious mischief.
Comments
Posted by JDR (anonymous) on May 17, 2008 at 12:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
somebody is gonna be in trouble.
Posted by fatherof4 (anonymous) on May 17, 2008 at 1:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)
somebody should be in trouble
Posted by vilou09 (anonymous) on May 17, 2008 at 1:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
yeah..... whoever these idiots are just got the publicity they were lookin for.
And I doubt they get caught. Even if they do i'm sure mommy and daddy will be there to get them off.
Sheesh.
Posted by shedevil (anonymous) on May 17, 2008 at 4:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
i hope they catch these idiots & it cost mom and dad alot of money.if this is a school rival thing they should make that school pay also.its a shame kids would stoop this low and damage such a nice bus because they dont have one.i heard last nite at a ball game the police dept did have a description on one of the cars...looks like they may be taking their final exams behind bars
Posted by msmama (anonymous) on May 17, 2008 at 8:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Hope I'm wrong but not much faith in NPD. Place where I work was robbed...not much help there...and acted like they didn't really care.
Know for a fact Trinity bus is always being vandalized...wonder why they don't store it someplace safe? As far as kids being kids...there is a difference between paper on a field and destruction to vehicles. They know better but CHOOSE the latter.
Posted by olderthandirt (anonymous) on May 17, 2008 at 8:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Shameful! Children have no respect for the property of others! And I blame many of the parents.I know from experience, they will get off scot free.The parents need to step up to bat and admit 'little Johnny' DID commit the crime.Hefty fines and community service would be a good start. Good luck in locating the sweet little INNOCENT brats!
Posted by EnKiKur (anonymous) on May 17, 2008 at 8:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ms. Carey should examine her attitude towards these malicious vandals.
“I feel bad for the kids who were involved because I know it was just something that seemed funny at the time and actually is really quite serious.”
People old enough to drive and ram buses are not kids, for one thing. Though politcally correct Ms. Carey's attitude is far too tolerant and encouraging of this sort of act.
These vandals committed a specific act against a specific entity, Trinity School. The act was not against the community or the state. Jail time, fines and community service do not address the issue either.
The vandals themselves, and not their parents, should be made to pay for all damages associated with their act of volition, even if it means a period of indentured servitude. That is equity. That replaces the harm. That is penance. That teaches respect of individual rights.
Posted by ericstratton (anonymous) on May 17, 2008 at 8:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Shedevil; why should the school where these kids go to school also pay for damages? Do you think the principal and teachers sat around and sent out a squad of kids to unleash hell on Trinity? Why not get the Grandparents, aunts, uncles and people who live in their neighborhood kick in also for damages?
Posted by iamnobody (anonymous) on May 17, 2008 at 9:14 a.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by iamnobody (anonymous) on May 17, 2008 at 9:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
eric, the reason shedevil thinks and i agree with her that if this was another schools students,,then the school should pay because, as with trinity and the other schools,
students represent the school not only during extra cirricular(SP) activies but out side of school,
with this, it is found out that a for say ac,ca, wcca, and greenie did this,,one from each school,,each student represented his or her school in their actions, ya get it now??
Posted by topper (anonymous) on May 17, 2008 at 9:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The school does not need to be punished but they need to be involved in action against that student from their stand point. Unlike( when Trininty) stealing four wheelers and the coaches bailing you out or fellow parents at that school. A student from any school, then the headmaster needs to reprimand them in addition to the police and the parents. Sports suspension for one. I am sure Trinity would bar them from their school in future sporting events.
Posted by ntz155 (anonymous) on May 17, 2008 at 9:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
No the school should not be held accountable for this. Yes I will be completely humiliated if this was my school, but the vandals acted on their own. If a bunch of teenagers get in trouble on the weekends while at the mall, it is not their schools fault. The students represent their school when traveling for other school functions, but not on their free time. Yes it is a direct reflection on the school, but the school is not accountable. By the way, I think everyone in the Miss-Lou area has a bus for travel!!! I know that AC and Cath. do.
Posted by NatchezEnema (anonymous) on May 17, 2008 at 10:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This a sad day. I passed by J.M. Digital many days when they were working on this bus. They spent a lot of time and effort on it. I bet just redoing that side mural will be more than 500$. These punks should have to pay for this. When they get them I want to see their picture in the paper. YOU HEAR ME NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT! Cut them no slack!
Posted by iamnobody (anonymous) on May 17, 2008 at 11:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
hey ntz 155,,,obtain a copy of the student hand book for trinity,,and read it, i am sure that you will come across the section of conduct,,,,each student and parents are to sign a page stating that they have read and understand the handbook.
i am not saying that the schools should be punished, but if the persons in question are local high school students the schools which they attend will be punished anyway,, does this sound familiar,,,
a student at xyz school in being held for,,,,hello,, a recent story in this paper about a student putting visine in a teachers drink,,or better yet the madison elementery school where a student committed suicide,,,you really think that the schools are not effected or linked to or by the actions of the students, whether on school time or private time,,the kids names are withheld but the school names are not,
i do hate the fact that this happened, do not get me wrong, but it is kind of ironic that the "safest bus" as described in the article on it's blessing, was not safe at it's home campus
Posted by Negotiator (anonymous) on May 17, 2008 at 12:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Life's tough enough without a bunch of idiots running around destroying other peoples' property.
I say that like I've had a hard life.... I haven't.
Regardless, it was a senseless, mean sprited act of foolishness.
Posted by ericstratton (anonymous) on May 17, 2008 at 1:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
iamnobody,i barely get it due to your butchering of basic grammar and syntax.However, if a student from school A shoots another student from school b are you going to hold school A liable?
Posted by destiny (anonymous) on May 17, 2008 at 2:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If it's kids that have done the damage, it's the kids fault. Very simple!!!! If they are old enough to drive then they are old enough to take responsibility for what they have done. Stop blaming parents, schools, Easter Bunny, or Santa Claus every time an idiot kid does something stupid. It's time for these young hoodlums to stand up and take their punishment for their own crimes. JMO
Posted by mophus22 (anonymous) on May 17, 2008 at 3:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
DOCTOR Delecia Carey is simply trying to keep a bad situation from getting worse with her "politically correct" comments. if i know her like i think i do, she is kicking herself that the security at the school was not being utilized and now this damage has been done.
as for school involvement, precedents have been set in this matter. i recall several years ago, when yours truly was attending TE, a certain individual, we'll call him 'Flash', vandalized our field the week before homecoming. the school that he attended expelled him and he never attended that school again. (of course the irony of all of this is he was accepted for enrollment at a school in our district, go figure). if i were the leadership at an area school, i certainly would not want these criminals associated with MY school. as for children who attend Trinity doing something like this, when i attended, you WOULD HAVE been expelled for something like this, no questions asked. i understand that now there are some people that get special treatment, but that's what happens in private schools and if you don't like it, pull your kids out.
Posted by iamnobody (anonymous) on May 17, 2008 at 4:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
eric,
yes mophus, as i stated, i too went to trinity, and i can remember licks from coach a,,,and as far as "flash" the idiot,,,i guess he had some kind of talent (football, basketball, lockpicking,what ever) that the school he was accepted into was needing, and i too know of a few students whose behavior made it impossible for them to continue at trinity because of stupid behavior but back then first you got in trouble at school and then at home.
i am not downing the schools, or blaming either,,yes kids do stupid things and yes they get caught, how ever when a "crime" is commited due to the age of the individual at fault, they are never mentioned only things, places, and yes schools that they are associated with are mentioned
as far as security, other than the big red iron gate across the front entrance, there really is not any. and the old bus, that this one replaced, well i was glad of that fact, and no i do not condone this activity of destroying or defacing anything regardless of whether or not i like the person, place or thing
oh and eric please for give any butchering of basic grammar and syntax oh and spelling too, that i may have done,,i never did like english class,,
Posted by mike8427 (anonymous) on May 17, 2008 at 9:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
she devil, why the heck would the other school be paying for what some stupid kids did?
Posted by ntz155 (anonymous) on May 18, 2008 at 12:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The rumor going around is that 2 students that had dropped out of school because of grades were the vandals. This should not refect on the school that they dropped out of.
Posted by Hambone (anonymous) on May 18, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Lets don't rule out the possibility that the vandal(s) are roaming the Trinity hallways...
Posted by Serenyd (anonymous) on May 22, 2008 at 11:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ooooo somebody's gonna be in trouble .....
joking aside, this is not cool. There should be some way to punish these kids and make and impression on them without putting them behind bars. Jail is no place for kids and they will only learn worse in that toxic environment.
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