The Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District canceled school for the day on Monday at John Reed Elementary School after discovering someone broke into multiple classrooms and vandalized them.
The Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety dispatch center received an alarm notification early Monday morning from the school and sent patrol units.
School officials arrived and decided to cancel classes for the day due to the excessive vandalism.
"We wanted kids to come back to school the way they left it on Friday," Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District Superintendent Maite Iturri said. "We didn’t want them to see things in the condition that it currently is, so we are spending the time making sure that the classrooms are clean and safe."
Officers said they arrived at the school three minutes after the initial alarm went off. Despite the quick response, authorities didn't find any suspects on campus.
Iturri declined to provide specifics on what was damaged, citing the ongoing investigation. She anticipates repairs will be costly.
"To me, I hold schools as sacred places where kids and families come and feel safe and welcomed," she said. "It's hard to imagine somebody doing this."
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The district said it plans to have resources for students and staff to discuss the issue when students return. They are also looking at implementing additional security measures to prevent any future vandalism.
"Kids losing a day of education is significant," Iturri said. "We don’t want them to lose any. Disruption to school can have a huge impact on students. Especially in light of what happened, we don’t want people to be concerned about coming back to school because this is a safe place."
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Anyone with information about the case can contact Detective Ashley Freyer at 707-588-3513.
