In light of my colleague Kevin McCallum’s story (click here to read http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090908/ARTICLES/909089932) in today’s Press Democrat about approximately $1,000 in graffiti damage at Maria Carrillo High, the item on the Santa Rosa City School Board agenda tonight entitled “Vandalism Repair and Graffiti Removal Summary of Costs for Supplies and Contracted Services” caught my eye.

According to a staff report, the district spent $16,861.31 in supply costs and contracted service work to remove and repair graffiti and vandalism in 2008-09. That total was down slightly from the prior year.

Down a bit and not a huge dollar figure, but still a little galling, isn’t it? When the board is pondering cutting five days from the calendar, adopting a corporate sponsorship policy, offering early retirement incentives, wouldn’t it be nice to not be shelling out cash to paint over graffiti and repair shattered windows?

Clearly, $16,000 isn’t going to save a teacher’s job or add a day to the calendar, but still.

Do you think maybe a teacher at Hidden Valley Elementary could use the $1,409.16 that the district spent to repair vandalism to a play structure? How about the $586 the district spent on that campus to repair another incident of vandalism?

Slater Middle School was hit to the tune of nearly $2,000 and Comstock suffered more than $1,100 in damage.

More than $7,500 was spent to deal with incidents at the five comprehensive high schools and Ridgway High. Again, small potatoes in the big scheme of things but it must sting a bit when teachers are posting wish lists on their school web sites asking for copy paper.