In the second vandalism attack of the school year, administration closed the 100 wing and 200 wing boys’ restrooms due to the word “monster” with the corresponding Monster energy drink logo written in Sharpie on bathroom stalls. This occurred in the past week.

According to Assistant Vice Principal Lynne Ewald, this incident is not believed to be connected to another incident from a couple weeks ago in which super glue was put on restroom soap dispensers.

MVHS administration has a few leads on who the perpetrator is, but is unable to disclose information at this time.

Ewald said that the bathrooms are preferred targets for vandalism because they are enclosed and do not have security cameras.

Ewald hopes that barring the use of affected restrooms will serve as a preventative measure for future vandalism as students will be frustrated at the restrooms’ closings. Furthermore, she said that when students see this behavior happening in the future, they should report it to administration.

Vandalism is a pertinent concern to administration because vandalized restrooms can be a health concern, affect the workload of custodians, and detract from the cleanliness of school facilities.

According to the MVLA Code of Conduct, disciplinary action in response to vandalism includes that “students/parents will have to make full restitution of all damages, including the cost of any reward the district may have paid to identify the perpetrator. Additionally, if reparation of damages is not made, the district also may withhold the student’s grades, diploma and/or transcripts in accordance with law.”

In order to be in accordance with this code, administration keeps track of all incidents of vandalism. Administration calculates the reparation cost of vandalism by how much the cleaner or paint to make the repairs cost and the time it takes the custodians fix it.

According to Ewald, although vandalism on campus occurs every year, this year’s consistent use of the word “monster” in vandalism incidents has been unprecedented.