Stockton School Victimized Despite Beefed-Up Security

STOCKTON (CBS13) - A Stockton elementary school is on such high alert, you not only have to push a button and stand in front of a camera to be let in, but once you get in, you're under the surveillance of 13 cameras.

They take security at Sutherland Elementary very seriously, not only with the 13 cameras but even motion detectors.

But can you blame them?

The school is now down eight laptops after a series of break-ins. And its not alone. Four other schools in north Stockton have been hit a total of 20 times since December at a cost $45,000.

"They hit a total of six classrooms," a Sutherland school official said. "They took the metal circle (off a ground cover) and threw it right through this window here."

Parents are getting involved, disgusted that the thieves are hurting their children's growth.

"How can you rob my child of her education?" Frances Hilliard asked.

"If you live around the school and you see something suspicious, we're just asking that you call, that you just pick up the phone," Lashawnda Carey said.

Short of patrolling the schools, the parents want to make sure thieves know they too are on high alert.

"We're just not going to keep tolerating this," Hilliard said. "People are going to be watching you and we will be calling."

The women say so far they've reached out to 20 parents and residents. They're racing against time right now because it's coming up on the summer break when the campus will be empty and they'll need as many eyes on the school as possible.