On April 10, a large graffiti print was reported in the BVH boys’ Physical Education locker room. Taking this as a threat, Principal Lee Romero immediately reported it to the Chula Vista Police Department (CVPD), where they discussed the next steps they would take. The following morning, the CVPD met with Romero at BVH.
Simultaneously, Romero requested for the police officers to monitor the traffic in front of the school, causing people to raise questions about the multiple police cars on campus. After taking the first steps to alleviate this issue, the police officers and Romero established a plan to address the problem to the BVH community members.
“As soon as I got information, I sent an email out to parents and said it was being investigated. I got a lot of feedback from parents thanking me. The school is safe and we take threats like that very seriously and unfortunately we take these threats so seriously that it costs the CVPD and us a lot of resources,” Romero said.
Later that day, Romero posted a video on Instagram addressing the issue and explained what was being done to investigate the situation. Despite the email and the video, ten students left the school day out of precaution and throughout the day, BVH community members remained concerned. Assistant Principal (AP) Tyler Aricaga was involved in the investigation process and expresses it is still being worked on.
“It is still an ongoing investigation so we cannot comment on it too much but we have interviewed multiple students as well as searched them. Safety is the utmost priority, as well as core academics and keeping a safe campus is what promotes a positive learning environment,” Arciaga said.
As Romero continues to investigate these actions, he looks forward to the new security cameras arriving on campus. These cameras will allow the administration to observe who enters and exits the bathrooms, narrowing down potential suspects in vandalism acts like this. Although, there are other methods administration will be enforcing to limit the access of bathrooms.
“When people do it in stalls, it’s challenging, because you can’t sit there and monitor the stalls. So, we’re going to be closing bathrooms and restricting them more. It’s a give and take because there will be long lines for bathrooms. It’s a balancing act of safety and convenience,” Arciaga said.
Additionally, AP Nicoleta Bogart was a part of the investigation process, and assisted the administration team. She believes this incident created an uncomfortable environment at school and proposes new ways to prevent this from happening.
“We need to provide better supervision in the bathrooms and locker room. We could also use a daily bulletin to relay messages regarding inappropriate behavior. Unfortunately, incidents like this have a negative impact on students’ personal and academic well-being,” Bogart said.
Although Romero expressed that he does not tolerate this behavior, he sees it as a sign for help. Being a counselor and teacher in his previous years, he hopes to find out who created the graffiti to ensure their mental wellbeing.
“I put my counselor hat on and saw this is not normal behavior. I’ve been to many schools, and there is usually not a lot of tagging. The people that are doing it here are just seeking the wrong attention and it’s unfortunate they’re doing this. Although, as a counselor, sometimes this is a cry out for help, they’re lost,” Romero said.
Romero, Arciaga and the rest of the administration continue to plan ways to ensure safety at BVH. Incidents like these will always be taken with seriousness as it affects the school environment. Arciaga believes that the graffiti threats do not represent what BVH is and hopes to exclude anyone portraying this behavior.
“It’s disappointing because people who do things like this do not deserve to be a Baron and do not deserve to be here. This is my home school and it’s the community I live in. That’s not anything we condone and at this point if somebody wants to do that kind of stuff then they shouldn’t be here,” Arciaga said.
