School officials said some students have been caught and suspended for stealing or damaging soap and paper towel dispensers from three boys restrooms last week.
The vandalism is similar to a TikTok trend that started Sept. 1 called “devious licks” in which those doing the posting brag about certain items stolen from school.
“It’s disappointing that students feel the need to behave in this fashion, and the fact they believe that this is something to brag about is disgusting,” said assistant principal Hilda Arredondo, who was only willing to tell The Accolade that less than 10 students were caught and given consequences ranging from suspension to fines for repair and labor costs.
Principal Allen Whitten narrowed that number down to “a handful.”
Neither administrator was willing to release details about those caught, but they gave the following account: On Sept. 13, Sunny Hills experienced a series of vandalism in three different locations — the boys restrooms near the 40s building, 70s building and 400s building.
“I would say that Sept. 13 was the one and only incident… Fortunately for us, we haven’t been largely hit like the other campuses,” Arredondo said.
Students were caught because of the high-technology security on campus, which includes approximately 200 cameras scattered around campus for officials to review.
“We have alarms — detector alarms that identify both vaping and loud sounds in the bathroom — so with that, we get alerts on our phones, and I’m able to pinpoint the exact time that it happened,” Arredondo said. “Then, I just do an investigation based on what I see and find [on the cameras].”
Though administrators cannot release names of those who face discipline, one sophomore boy told The Accolade he served a two-day suspension after removing the nearly $60 soap dispenser by force from the boys bathroom in the 40s wing.
“It was dumb, and I definitely would not do it again,” said the 15-year-old, whose name has been withheld because of confidentiality. “It might be funny at the moment, but I do not recommend [doing] this.”
The vandalized items, the paper towel and soap dispensers, usually cost $50-$80, but Arredondo and Whitten said the total damage costs can easily amount to hundreds of dollars.
Whitten believes that this will not happen again.
“I look forward to moving past this and getting to a point where all of our students feel that Sunny Hills pride and feel a part of the Sunny Hills family,” he said. “We can go back to being that special school where things like this don’t happen.”
