Vandalism Also Leaves Its Mark on Students : Schools: Repairs after a third break-in at Monlux Elementary may cut into education funds. Some pupils are fearful.

By EFRAIN HERNANDEZ JR

Sept. 15, 1995 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

NORTH HOLLYWOOD — Vandals this past weekend wrecked more than just classrooms at Monlux Elementary School.

They also threw a wrench into the lives of several dozen school kids.

“I feel sad because our room was messed up,” said sixth-grader Dion Jones, 12. “Our books got torn.”

Vandals apparently armed with baseball bats smashed windows, discharged fire extinguishers and turned over desks and bookshelves, scattering crayons and student folders throughout three classrooms and an office.

It was the third such attack at the school in the past year.

And four days later, much of the mess remained--waiting for a special cleanup crew to mop up the chemical residue left by the spent fire extinguishers.

So Dion and classmates in teacher Carol Umlas’ sixth grade spent the week holding class in the school auditorium, the only space available and, unlike their own room, not air-conditioned. Students worked at lunch tables and had to share books, distracted by the heat and--for some--fear caused by the destruction.

Luz Juarez, 11, said she worries that vandals might return and that students could get hurt. “We might be in the class,” she said.

Los Angeles Unified School District administrators and police say it is unlikely the vandals would return to harm pupils. The crime is one of cowardice, done when no one is around, they say.

But in addition to other pressing troubles at city schools, district officials say vandalism remains an annoying, senseless and disruptive problem. Fixing the damage caused by vandals usually means funds earmarked for education must be spent on repairs instead.

“It’s demoralizing,” Principal Naomi Suenaka said. “It’s bad any time it happens.”

Suenaka said she hopes the classrooms will be cleaned and ready by Monday.

School police Detective Joe Preciado, who is assigned to the San Fernando Valley, said officers are investigating the most recent vandalism at Monlux. It was apparently the work of someone older than elementary school age, he said.

“It’s severe,” he said. And it is also the sort of crime that is difficult to solve, especially by the school district’s limited police force.

Preciado asks anyone with information on the crime to call school police at (213) 625-6631.

To protect the damaged classrooms against future attacks, the staff at Monlux agreed to use some of the money set aside for supplies to pay for security grills--a cost of about $2,000 for each of the three rooms.

Another dozen classrooms are without security grills, but there is no money to buy protection. Diane Seligson, coordinator of the school’s math/science technology magnet, said she hopes the school can raise the funds this year.

Administrators said most of the school’s 775 students seem able to deal with the vandalism and the temporary displacement without much trouble.

Yolanda Glass, 11, said she is eager for completion of the cleanup, acknowledging that at least this past week “we don’t have as much homework because we can’t take the books home.”

But others remain upset. Several students said they felt uncomfortable outside their classrooms and worried about vandals returning to the school.

Said one boy, “If they did it and got away, they could do it again.”