Recent graffiti around the school has left teacher Anson Opara and others frustrated with the negative consequences.

“There’s just a lot more that’s been occurring lately, I don’t know who’s doing it. It’s just kind of frustrating,” Opara said. “They’ve had to lock down bathrooms because of it, which is annoying because then you can’t use the bathroom when you want to.”

Despite the school rule against vandalism, sophomore Tommy Hiemenz said the graffiti found around the school is a way for students to express themselves and even make their voices heard.

“I’ve been seeing a bunch of graffiti and these slap stickers, that’s what they call it. It’s a way of art,” Hiemenz said. “I think they should enjoy it.”

Junior Jamie Enright said she doesn’t understand why people vandalize because it forces someone else to clean up unnecessary messes.

“I honestly don’t know (why people do it), maybe to get your opinions out but I don’t understand why they vandalise the bathroom,” Enright said.

According to the student handbook, students are expected to respect other individuals and school property.

Principal Scott Meyers said punishments for vandalism can include suspension or monetary fees for restoration of the school’s property and jobs similar to Park pride tasks.

“It’s usually more of a conversation about it. It’s not a mandate to pay, it’s just like, ‘this is what we will realize, this is what we need to do to restore it,’” Meyers said.

According to Meyers, there have been accounts of hateful graffiti, which is not just treated as normal vandalism in both punishment and speed of response.

“It’s something that is incredibly offensive and can cause questions of safety and so we make sure we get those as a priority first and to take away the impact and the voice from the person,” Meyers said.

Opara said students should think about the consequences of their actions before creating graffiti, as it can actually have more of an impact than some might think.

“Think about the respect of the whole thing and think of how this is creating it so now I can’t use that bathroom,” Opara said. “You’re affecting like 400 people because you want to write stuff on the wall.”

Meyers said students need to know that custodians’ role is to maintain the building and ensure all resources are clean and accessible.

“It’s important for students to know that our maintenance staff, our custodial staff for buildings and grounds, is here to help maintain the buildings. Not to really clean up after all of us,” Meyers said.

According to Meyers, the best action for students to take is reporting any sort of damage to the school through the main office.

“Our best bet is for people when they notice even a soap dispenser that’s open or a trash can that’s tipped over, report some of the lower level stuff,” Meyers said.