School Board Member, School Officials Asked to Report Vandalism Costs

McLean Patch  has asked Dranesville School board member Jane Strauss and the schools public information office to report the cost of repairing the vandalism damage at McLean High School that was done by Langley students last winter.

McLean Patch promised the neighbors that we would ask school officials for the total amount of the costs to taxpayers once the damage was repaired.

Patch e-mailed Strauss and school public information chief Paul Regnier Friday. Neither has responded.

Langley High School students McLean High School and hurled insults that bordered on racial slurs during the first basketball game between the two long-time McLean cross town rivals December 17.

According to a story in the Saxon Scope, the Langley High School student newspaper, "At the game, which was hosted at McLean, Langley students hurled insults at McLean’s step team, shouted demeaning messages at the opposing fans, and even managed to put seventeen holes in McLean’s gym bleachers using their feet. By the end of the game, the police were involved, and an officer was injured," the Scope story said.

After talking with McLean Principal Deborah Jackson, Regnier, the spokesman for  the Fairfax County Public Schools confirmed,  that around 25 school bleachers were damaged. Unable to give the cost of repairs, he added that “the bill for the bleachers will go to Langley.” Regnier could not comment on any disciplinary action.

The two schools, which are four miles apart, have enjoyed a long and spirited rivalry. The December game was a tight game, with Langley taking the win at 43-42 “The games are extremely vibrant,” Rose Amolo, a McLean parent says. “I look forward to going to them.

The games have become so intense that fans from each school must use separate entrances to avoid confrontations.

After the ugly December incident, it was reported that student leaders from both schools met.  No further incidents were reported.

Stay tuned. We'll update the neighbors when we hear from Strauss and school officials.