Three unauthorized individuals broke into BHS through an open exterior door in late July. According to security footage, they stole and damaged two guitars, wandered around the school, and used the restroom. The trio camped in the staircase between the upstairs bathroom and Assistant Principal Jada Payea’s office. A custodial crew found them on Monday morning, asked them to leave, and they left promptly.
The week that the incident occurred was the week the carpets were being cleaned, so every classroom was unlocked.
“So they had an unusual amount of access to spaces, yet there was no vandalism. There was no damage done at all. They actually kept that stairwell really tidy, and actually kept a bag for all of their trash,”Principal Sabrina Westidijk said.
Parents and guardians as well as students, were not notified about this incident. Westidijk said that the district debated whether or not the Register should release this story.
“But I think that we were sensitive to the idea of not wanting to stir up fear or alarm towards unhoused individuals, said Westidijk, “because the intent [was] to find a safe shelter at a time of year and I think they thought they’d be no bother to anybody, right?”
The administration contacted the Burlington Police Department and filed a police report. According to Westidijk, the BPD identified one individual, but failed to identify the other two and concluded the case as not worthy of further investigation.
History teacher Sean Fleming said that the incident was indicative of problems Burlington has been dealing with in recent years.
“I didn’t feel like anyone at Burlington High School was to blame,” Fleming said. “I just thought it was a symptom of the larger problems in the city.”
Eli Burton ‘26 disagrees. “A hammer needs to be brought down at some point on these people,” Burton said. “And the free handouts need to stop in order to feel safe in the school.”
When asked about the shock of this event, Fleming said “It is surprising to me, but not beyond possibility. Given our unhoused population, we’ve got a lot of desperate people here, and they found access, of course, they’re gonna try to get some value out of the school. It’s unfortunate.”