Kids Cause $500K Worth of Damage to Darrington Schools

Darrington, WA – The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office responded Monday  to reports of “significant damage and vandalism”  to the inside of the Darrington Elementary School and High School that had occurred over the weekend.

A 10-year old boy, a 13-year old female and a 14-year old female are suspected of spending several hours inside the schools on Sunday, destroying them.

The child and teens are accused of smashing nearly every interior window and glass door in the school. They are also accused of smashing  electronics, flipping over tables, smashing a large  fish tank with a fire extinguisher, throwing  books and cabinets across classrooms and setting off several fire extinguishers throughout the school, including inside the cafeteria and gym.

Investigators say the three kids also  flooded a kindergarten classroom by clogging a sink and turning it on. The sink continued to run until it was found by school staff on Monday morning.

Graffiti and profanity were found spray painted across the cafeteria and on walls inside the school.

The 10-year old boy and the 14-year old female were detained and released to their parents while the 13-year old female was arrested and  booked into the Denney Juvenile Justice Detention Center.  All three have charges pending for Burglary and Malicious Mischief.

Professional cleaning crews have been called in to start cleaning up the broken glass and damaged items.  The repairs for the water damage and clean up process will be lengthy due to the massive amount of damage inside the school.

The Darrington School District released a statement on the incident which said “We will be working tirelessly to restore the buildings in time for the first day of school. We do not anticipate any delays at this time. We have notified staff via email to please refrain from entering the building until further notice.”

Darrington School has one campus shared by the elementary and high school. The elementary school sustained most of the damage according to the district.

Several members of the community have expressed interest on social media with assisting in the clean up process,  but school officials say while they appreciate the community support and offers for help,  clean-up must be handled by professionals.