Nease officials investigating school vandalism

Workers from the St. Johns County school district remove spray paint from a satellite dish at Nease.

By Christina Abel 

Nease High School officials arrived at work Thursday to find someone had spray painted words and drawings throughout the school on hallways, windows, the courtyard, the football stadium and on sculptures.

Most of the spray painted messages featured the letters “BTHS” and the word “bears,” leading Principal Linda Thomson and other school officials to think that Bartram Trail High School students were responsible.

However, in a mass voice mail and e-mail to parents, Thomson said there is no evidence that Bartram students were involved.

“The vandalism appears to have been done by Bartram students, however, at this point there is no proof of that. Sometimes students purposefully attempt to throw off investigators by making vandalism appear to have been done by another school. We have been in communication with Bartram and both schools are very aware that there is no proof at this time, and retaliation would be a big mistake for Nease students,” Thomson wrote.

By about 1 p.m. Thursday, district workers were at the school, cleaning the metal sculptures with gasoline, washing windows and repainting hallways and lockers. Some of the paint, however, was sprayed onto the school’s brick hallways and will be much more difficult to remove, Thomson said.
On Thursday afternoon, Officer Kevin Kelshaw, a spokesman for the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, said police were reviewing security tapes from the school’s video cameras.

Thomson said a can of spray paint was left at the scene bearing fingerprints.

Thomson said the school had installed $30,000 worth security cameras and lights.

While walking around the campus on Thursday, Thomson surveyed the damage. Brick hallways had been spray painted with “BT” and “Cheetahs,” which Thomson said refers derogatorily to Nease’s mascot, the panthers. A metal sculpture at the school’s entrance was spray painted with “BT” and some windows were painted with “666.”

In the school’s courtyard, by the auditorium, the floor had been spray painted but was immediately painted over by workers. Lockers and vending machines were also spray painted. At the school’s football stadium, the large “Nease” sign under the press box had been spray painted over to read “Bears.”

Christina Abel can also be reached at (904) 249-4947, ext. 6319.