LOXAHATCHEE, Fla. (CBS 12) One teacher says hurricane evacuees, who were sheltering at her school during Hurricane Irma, may have taken things from her desk and classroom at Seminole Ridge High School.
She posted her concerns on Facebook.
Now some are so shocked that people seeking shelter would take classroom supplies from a teacher, they are trying to help.
Seminole Ridge High School in Loxahatchee was swamped by so many evacuees during Hurricane Irma that they couldn’t hold them all in the school gym.
Some evacuees were placed in classrooms, and one teacher says things turned up missing.
“I just felt like I had to do something,” said Amy McCarroll, a mother of three.
McCarroll is collecting school supplies to help out a teacher she has never met.
Amy couldn’t believe it when she learned a teacher at Seminole Ridge High claims some things were stolen from her desk and classroom when the school was used as a hurricane shelter this week.
“I’m literally sick to my stomach about it,” McCarroll said.
A teacher at Seminole Ridge High posted this on Facebook: “The locks on my desk and filing cabinet was picked, everything was gone through and some things stolen. Things were ripped from my wall and gone. How can people who were offered a safe place could steal and take from others.”
“You don’t need to steal people’s stuff, you don’t need to break locks or destroy cabinets or personal property. That’s just not called for,” McCarroll said.
“Unfortunately that happens from time to time when you invite that many people into a school,” said Dr. Robert Avossa, Palm Beach County Superintendent of Schools.
Amy, meanwhile, is doing her part to help the teacher, by collecting school supplies for her to replace what was stolen.
“Pencils, Sharpees, folders, rulers. I’m very touched that I have this and I’m able to do some kind of help. It’s not a lot but every little bit helps,” said Carol Price, a retired teacher in Loxahatchee who provided some school supplies to Amy.
“If there’s anything missing, any materials or supplies that they had, we’re gonna find a way to get all of that to them again,” said Dr. Avossa.
A school district spokeswoman says they don’t know yet if things were taken only from one classroom or multiple classrooms. They hope to have a better idea Monday when classes resume.
Amy plans to go to Seminole Ridge High Monday to drop off the supplies she collected for the teacher. She says anyone who wishes to contribute school supplies can contact her via email at Amccarroll33470@aol.com.
She also says donated school supplies such as paper, pens, folders can be dropped off this weekend at After Burn Gym in Loxahatchee, at the Loxahatchee Bazaar, and also at Butterfield’s Restaurant in Royal Palm Beach.
Shamelessly copied from cbs12.com
