Cleaning up after the Schoolhouse Squat will be costly for a B.C. school district that could have used the money elsewhere.

Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools has had a chance to assess the damage to Rutherford Elementary School after squatters from Nanaimo鈥檚 Alliance Against Displacement and Discontent City broke in on Friday before being arrested over the weekend.

Steve Rae, school board chairman, said he was 鈥渁bsolutely mortified鈥� with what he saw inside the school.

鈥淭hey destroyed all the doors downstairs on the first level and barricaded them. They had put holes in the roof to hang their banners in the flashing and that鈥檚 a big concern because it鈥檚 rainy season; we鈥檙e going to have to repair that quickly,鈥� he said.

Rae said it appeared the squatters 鈥渨ere planning on being there for the long haul鈥� with a kitchen set up, cases of pasta, peanut butter, fruit, coffee, as well as 鈥渃ases of unused needles,鈥� other drug paraphernalia and naloxone kits. A machete and knives were also found.

Rae said he believes $100,000 is a conservative estimate of the damage, as the district will need to repair doors and the roof and says it will hire a hazmat team and additional security at schools.

鈥淎ll of this is a cost and all of this is taking away from where it was designed, where taxpayers expect we spend it, and that鈥檚 on the education of our kids and that鈥檚 the real crime here,鈥� Rae said. 鈥淥f course we鈥檙e empathetic toward the people who are struggling with homelessness and addictions, but this is not the way to go about it.鈥�

Laura Riach of Alliance Against Displacement said it was the RCMP who broke down the doors and said she didn鈥檛 witness anyone inside ripping children鈥檚 artwork off the walls.

鈥淥n a simple, logical level, if we were trying to convert a building into a home for 300 people, why would we destroy the inside of it?鈥� she asked.

Isabel Krupp, also from Alliance Against Displacement, said squatters didn鈥檛 do damage to the building because it was intended to be a home.

鈥淲e were there to take care of it and to put that building to use after it was abandoned by the government, by the state,鈥� she said.

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Amber McGrath, Discontent City supporter, said yesterday she didn鈥檛 know yet if tent city residents and supporters would attempt to squat at another school or empty building.

A press release from Alliance Against Displacement announcing the Schoolhouse Squat noted that 鈥渏udges have found that governments have an obligation to the public good that private landowners do not. Homeless people have stopped government injunction applications by successfully claiming that public property owners have a special responsibility to the public good.鈥�

RCMP arrested 26 squatters for break-and-enter and mischief on Saturday at Rutherford school.

editor@nanaimobulletin.com
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