Thieves break into Lancaster school, steal money raised for field trip

LANCASTER, Calif. (KABC) -- Thieves broke into a Lancaster elementary school and stole thousands of dollars raised by students for a field trip.

Teacher Camille Izvarin is disgusted that someone broke into Linda Verde Elementary school in Lancaster during the Memorial Day weekend and ransacked her classroom and many others.

"Here's some of the graffiti that was left on the inside of our cabinets," Izvarin described.

Upwards of a dozen classrooms were trashed and windows were smashed, but that's not the worst of it. Students, most of them underprivileged, had filled bottles with spare change so they could raise enough money for a field trip.

During the break-in, the bottles were stolen. We learned about this incident from outraged parent Brenda Calderon, who sent us the story using the #ABC7Eyewitness.

"This is to the top. It's full of pennies, nickels and dimes and when we came back to school the tops were cut off," said Carrie Stokes, a teacher.

Nearly 30 bottles filled with coins were stolen. It took the kids several weeks to fill the bottles.

"It's not just money," Stokes said. "These are their hopes and their dreams for the things that they get to do."

Teacher Jill Shaw said the kids had been bringing in their allowances to add to the field trip fund.

Principal Storm Lydol said nearly $2,000 were stolen. He told Eyewitness News that this is the 10th time the school had been broken into.

Teachers said the students are heartbroken but not defeated.

"They are very resilient, and they are just going to keep trying to start over," Stokes said.

To help the students, the community has started donating money, and the school set up a GoFundMe account. You can donate here: www.gofundme.com/v3bk5w64m.

Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris has chipped in $300. Teachers and students are grateful for the help.

Meanwhile, the thieves and vandals are still on the loose.