When students arrived at Centennial High School on Wednesday morning, it was clear vandals had targeted their school.
Black graffiti covered walls and windows all over school property.
According to students, the black writing — which references vaping on campus and features the wort “consty” — is aimed at the school’s constable and police over enforcement of vaping rules on school property.
“Our constable was out and taking people’s vapes and that’s what I think started this whole issue,” Grade 10 student Jaylen MacLean said. “I didn’t expect it to go this far.”
It’s believed the tagging happened late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning. The Calgary Board of Education said it reported the incident to Calgary police and immediately called in crews for clean up.
“The Service is disappointed that someone has targeted our school resource officer for doing her part to ensure that schools are a healthy environment for Calgary’s youth,” Calgary police said in a statement.
“School resource officers are in schools to mentor youth on making good choices and to help promote a safe and healthy environment for all students. It is unfortunate that someone has chosen this approach to express their frustration rather than finding a more constructive way to address the issue.”
Some students were seen laughing as they pulled out their phones to take photos, but for much of the student population, the graffiti leaves them with a bad taste in their mouth.
“This is inappropriate and immature for us and sets a really bad example,” Grade 10 student Hailey Sanford said.
“I think it’s pretty stupid, to be honest,” another student, Gabe Katkic, said. “It’s pretty disrespectful.”
The incident is the latest in what seems to be multiple tagging incidents at schools across Calgary.
Just last week, St. Clare School was defaced with racist and homophobic graffiti, while a school in Douglasdale was tagged as part of a larger vandalism spree that saw tires slashed on residential streets.
But according to the CBE, there hasn’t been an increase in incidents at its schools.
“With more than 250 schools and buildings across the city, the Calgary Board of Education routinely deals with graffiti at our sites,” a CBE spokesperson said in a statement to Global News. “We have not seen a recent increase in graffiti activity.”
While there’s no word on any suspects, Calgary Bylaw said whoever is responsible could face a fine of between $2,500 to $5,000.
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