Surrey Schools taking measures to fight vandalism and fire damage at Halloween

October 31, 2024

Image via iStock

With the spooky season upon us, Surrey Schools is asking students, staff and parents to support the district in keeping our schools safe this Halloween by reporting any acts of vandalism they may come across in their communities.

Every year, Surrey Schools spends a considerable amount of time and money cleaning up and repairing vandalism on school property. Last year, the district experienced $436,380 in acts of vandalism, as well as approximately $500,000 of fire-related damages. These costs were paid through funds that would have been better spent supporting students.

“Our district has a number of initiatives to deter vandals, including having discussions with students about the senselessness of vandalism and implementing security measures at sites,” said Selma Smith, Director of Instruction for Safe Schools, noting the Surrey Board of Education and Surrey Schools are committed to reducing expenses around vandalism.

For many years now, the district has organized patrols by district staff of school properties. These patrols, often involving small groups taking shifts to walk around school grounds, have been shown to deter individuals from vandalizing schools on nights like Halloween.

“School vandalism affects our entire neighbourhood,” said Smith. “Vandals typically spread their activities to neighbouring homes and vehicles, and frequently choose to return and congregate where they haven’t encountered any deterrents in the past.”

With that in mind, the district is asking families to keep their eyes and ears open to any suspicious or dangerous activity at our schools and to not hesitate in notifying the police or the district if they notice anything out of the ordinary on school property.

For instances of obvious, active vandalism, please call 9-1-1 immediately to notify police.

Additional phone numbers for support include:

The Surrey RCMP Non-Emergency line – 604-599-0502
Surrey Schools’ Safe Schools Department – 604-595-6195

And, if you have any information about vandalism that has occurred at any of our schools at anytime, please contact the RCMP, our district, or utilize the district’s Protecting Surrey Schools Together website (psst-bc.ca). PSST is a resource where school safety concerns can be reported confidentially by anyone in our school community.

Thank you for your continued support in keeping our schools and neighbourhoods safe!