Just a little more than a week before classes start, an Athens middle school is short some equipment after more than $30,000 worth of school supplies were stolen from its gymnasium.
“This is a setback,” W.E. Coile Middle School Principal Marsha Thomas told the Athens Banner-Herald. “As a school community, we are saddened and heartbroken that anyone would steal items that are clearly used to enrich our students and give them the skills they need to be successful.”
Athens-Clarke County police said in a Facebook post that thieves broke into the school during the first two weeks of July and stole 60 iPads, band instruments, art supplies and other items.
Thomas told the newspaper that most of the stolen items were new and included xylophones, bongos, a sound system and megaphones. Stolen supplies also included construction paper, colored pencils, markers and paint supplies.
Classes at the school begin Aug. 7.
Police said two iPads were recovered July 18 during a search at a location in Oglethorpe County, according to the post. Authorities searched the home after someone who had purchased one of the stolen iPads gave police the address of where it was bought.
“The school system locked the remaining iPads, which will notify the user that the iPad is stolen and render it inoperable,” police said in the post. “If someone tries to sell you an iPad on the cheap end, then yes, it is too good to be true.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Athens-Clarke County police at 706-353-4218, ext. 147.
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