PLACENTIA, ANAHEIM : Schools Give Graffiti the Brushoff

A new form of graffiti has turned up on several campuses in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, forcing officials to come up with an innovative approach to lessen the impact.

Vandals are using glass engraving tools and other sharp instruments to scratch names and slogans into windows at Esperanza and Valencia high schools and several elementary schools.

But the taggers who return to admire their work soon find other slogans and names covering it. At each high school, students are busy painting the school name and mascot over the vandalized windows.

The effect is a colorful showcase for school pride, a perfect counterpoint to the negativity of graffiti, officials said.

“It is a very positive symbolic gesture,” said Paul Preston, Esperanza High School activities director. “The students are coming forward and saying to tagging crews: ‘Enough. We don’t want this at our school. We have ways to correct the problem you have created for us.’ ”

Valencia High School Principal Joseph Quartucci agreed, saying: “It’s a great response because not only does it take away the recognition that (vandals) want, it replaces (vandalism) with school pride.”

The vandalism began last school year, and at first officials at each high school replaced the vandalized windows. But at $400 to $500 a piece, replacing the windows quickly proved too expensive.

In August, Esperanza’s student council met with Preston to discuss different approaches to the problem. One student suggested expanding the practice of painting school announcements on windows to include the vandalized windows.

“We only paint positive messages on the windows,” Preston said. “We are trying to make a positive out of a negative.”

Quartucci said he borrowed Esperanza’s solution after spending more than $4,000 to replace 10 windows.

“We’ve had at least 100 windows vandalized, and there is not enough money to replace them all,” Quartucci said.

At Valencia, student council members work in teams of four painting over the graffiti. At the rate they are working, Quartucci estimates that it will be at least another month before all the graffiti is covered. When that is accomplished, students will continue painting over new graffiti as well as repaint the windows when paint wears off.

Although painting over graffiti is a temporary solution, both Quartucci and Preston said it is the best the schools can do for now.

“It has got to be a permanent approach,” Quartucci said. “We don’t have the money for anything else.”