FTPD Recovers Some Computers Stolen From Elementary Schools, Investigation Ongoing

Schools Superintendent John Ravally said some of the computers stolen from district schools over the past several months have been recovered.

Some of the computers stolen from two district schools since the start of the 2017-18 school year have been recovered. the township’s top school administrator said on Nov. 30.

Although some of the electronic devices stolen from Hillcrest and Conerly Road schools were found, no arrests have been made as yet, a Franklin Township Police Department spokesman said.

Thieves broke into Conerly Road School sometime during the overnight hours of Nov. 19 and stole 50 laptop computers from a computer cart.

Hillcrest School was similarly hit twice since September, with computers stolen in those instances as well.

Schools Superintendent John Ravally announced at the Nov. 29 Board of Education meeting that some of the stolen items had been recovered.

“We’re fortunate to work closely with the Franklin Township Police Department,” he said.

In an email, FTPD spokesman Lt. Phil Rizzo said that “To date, there have been no arrests made in this incident. The number and means in which the computers were recovered is part of an ongoing investigation and cannot be discussed at this time.”

Ravally also said that in consultation with the FTPD, the district is shoring up its security at schools and changing the way it secures computers.

“We’re working with our police department because they have the expertise in safety and security to help us create the barriers that would help us avoid these things in the future,” he said. “We’re tightening up things even moreso than they are now.”

Ravally also said that some procedures “changed a bit with regard to the storage of machines at the end of the day that we also think will have a large impact. We thank the Franklin Township Police Department for their diligence in resolving this matter and recovering some of the computers.”

“It’s sad when you think about computers being taken away from students,” school board president Ed Potosnak said. “Computers are like text books today.”

Potosnak said the students not only lost the computers, but any work they’d stored on them.

“All that work and time on the computer, and they have to start from scratch,” he said.

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