‘Students did not deserve this’: Over 30 cars damaged at 3 Kansas City area schools
Some Kansas City, Kansas, students are left trying to find the money to repair their cars after vandals damaged more than 30 vehicles at district high schools on Friday.
A few hours before classes were dismissed that day, Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools officials learned that 32 cars were damaged at Sumner Academy of Arts & Science, and about five more were damaged at F.L. Schlagle and J.C. Harmon high schools, district spokesman Edwin Birch said.
Birch said police are investigating after windows were broken and some items were stolen from the cars.
“This is so unfortunate that an individual or individuals would target our students’ vehicles in this manner. Our students did not deserve this at all,” Birch said in an email to The Star. “We hope that we can find the perpetrators and will continue to work closely with the police department during this investigation. If anyone has seen anything or has information about this incident to please contact the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department.”
Sarai Thao posted on Facebook that her brother, who she said attends Sumner Academy, had his car window smashed. Her GoFundMe to raise money for affected students had received more than $4,000 in donations as of Monday.
“There are so many students out there who work day and night, trying to make ends meet, paying for their car, repairs, and insurance and then someone who thought this was funny goes ahead and makes life even harder than it is,” she wrote in a public post. “ ... I’m really trying hard to let this go and forgive whoever did this. But it’s hard when it’s my mom who’s working day and night, paying for everything all by herself. I truly do not think this is fair. I shouldn’t have to pay for any of this. No student should have to take money out of their own pockets. I’m just so disappointed in our community.”
The fundraising page says that Thao has partnered with ClearView Auto Glass in Lenexa to reduce costs for students and staff who had cars vandalized.
“With the community’s help, we have been able to reduce the cost to fix the window damages from $400-$600 to just under $100 per window,” the shop posted on Facebook.
This story was originally published May 2, 2022 at 2:57 PM.
