RACINE - Eleven computers were stolen from two Racine Unified elementary schools Monday night, bringing the total to nearly 70 computers taken from schools in a recent rash of burglaries.

Nine computers were stolen from Giese Elementary School sometime between late Monday and early Tuesday morning, according to Unified Superintendent Jim Shaw. Five classrooms were broken into from outside the school at 5120 Byrd Ave.

In the same time period, two computers were stolen from Jerstad-Agerholm Elementary School. Officers were called to the school at 3535 LaSalle St. after an employee noticed a room had been broken into and a computer taken, according to reports from the Racine Police Department. While officers were there taking a report on the incident, a teacher approached and said a second classroom had been burglarized.

Reports said the thief attempted to steal two computers from that room, but one was broken during the burglary and left behind.

The burglaries are the most recent in what appears to be a rash of school break-ins, where the thieves take computers and related equipment, that have occurred at Racine Unified Schools since mid-September.

On Sept. 25, video editing equipment and 30 computers were taken during a burglary of McKinley Middle School, 2340 Mohr Ave. An estimated 15 desktop computers were stolen between Sept. 19 and 21 from Giese Elementary School. And 12 computers and two projectors were stolen from Wadewitz Elementary School, 2700 Yout St., between Sept. 12 and 15, police said.

In several of the cases, the suspects broke into separate classrooms by breaking and entering windows to each.

Following the most recent burglaries, Shaw sent out a memo to employees alerting them of the incidents.

"The thefts occurred despite increased security measures," he wrote. "The thefts and break-ins not only impact the security of the school, but also disrupt the education process for students and teachers."

Costly and disruptive

Shaw estimates that the cost for the stolen computers exceeds $60,000. He said about 40 of the computers stolen were new and probably are worth about $1,500 each.

However, it's not just the money the district is concerned about, he said. The bigger burden caused by the burglaries is the disruption to education, Shaw said.

"It hurts teaching and learning," he said. "I think it's disruptive and discouraging to our teachers and students. The computers are used as learning centers. That's why we have them in the classrooms."

He said students work on small group activities and independently on the classroom computers.

For now, the students will have to go elsewhere in the building to use them, as all computers have been relocated for the time being to more secure areas of the schools.

"Education is going to go on," Shaw said. "The students will still have access to computers. This is just discouraging for me to ask that computers be removed from classrooms."

Prevention and protection

The police department is investigating the break-ins, according to Shaw. He said detectives have been working with staff to try to find who is responsible, as well as work on some prevention methods.

The district, in conjunction with police, has developed short-term and long-term plans to protect school district property. According to the memo, effective immediately, Unified will be maintaining increased security measures, notifying schools and staff of any break-ins, conducting security assessments for 11 schools identified as potential targets for additional burglaries, developing plans at each to remove computers from classrooms and place them in more secure areas of the building, and providing no new computers until additional security measures are in place.

The district is also in the process of upgrading security systems at all buildings. Funding provided by the Qualified Zone Academic Bond (QZAB) that was approved and issued last spring, as well as funding from building maintenance referendum funds approved last April, will pay for the project.

Security equipment is in being installed and is expected to be completed by the summer, according to Shaw's memo. "The current plan was designed to control access to the buildings and monitor activity within the buildings," he wrote. "With the increased concern about break-ins, we will work with the (security equipment) vendor to add motion detector technology in classrooms."

Shaw said the district is also asking the community to help identify the person responsible for the burglaries. "We're trying to prevent future thefts," he said.