Many students at 100 Mile House Junior Secondary will finish the year in a gloomy atmosphere of boarded-up windows under a cloud of vandalism.
An unidentified group or an individual smashed almost 50 windows at the school sometime overnight June 8-9.
The ongoing 100 Mile House RCMP investigation indicates 48 windows were broken and damage cost estimates are in the range of about $10,000.
Principal Craig Munroe says virtually all the windows on the rear sides of the school were found smashed when staff arrived early last Thursday morning. The vandalism spree included damage to the heavy glass in the doors.
"It's everywhere they had hidden [view] from the main road. They never touched the front of the school."
It looks like golf balls were driven through the windows, Munro says, adding some of balls were found inside, along with a lot broken glass.
Students were moved out and crowded into shared classrooms while the mess was cleaned up.
Witnesses reported seeing some adult men the evening before with golf clubs and balls drinking liquor near the school grounds, he explains.
"The question is why would they do something like this to a school? A school is a building for kids, and [for someone] to do this, they are really sinking low here."
The smashed glass will be boarded over and replaced during the summer, he says, as the older style two-paned windows are too numerous to repair quickly.
Munroe says it's an unfortunate way for students to end the school year, in darkened classrooms with little artificial light.
"It's very difficult to understand why anyone outside of the school would do this. The kids are all visibly upset."
Vice-principal Ty Lytton adds it is not the building, but rather all the students who end up hurting the most from the vandalism.
He notes School District 27 will have to find the funding somewhere in the overall education budget to cover the costs of the large insurance claim and damage-related school expenses.
Folks who have any information on who may be responsible for the damage are encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), which keeps caller identifications anonymous, or to call the 100 Mile RCMP detachment at 250-395-2456.