More than $40,000 in property missing from Pender classrooms

Nov. 27--PENDER COUNTY -- More than $145,000 worth of Pender County Schools classroom supplies are damaged or missing after Hurricane Florence, according to a list published by the district.

Pender County Schools officials published a document on the district's Facebook page Monday night, listing classroom supplies and personal items that school staff reported damaged after the storm. Among the items are $40,119.53 worth of property listed as "missing."

That total does not include property listed on the document as "damaged/missing," or items listed as neither damaged nor missing. Staff wrote that the list is a work in progress.

"We are working diligently with public adjusters, contractors, and insurance representatives to recoup funds to replace both personal and professional missing or damaged items," the Facebook post read. "This lengthy process requires considerable time for the school system to navigate, much like the experiences encountered by many Pender County residents following this natural disaster."

Losses from missing items alone range from $129.97 in missing bean bags and a clock at Surf City Elementary to $8,960.04 in property at Topsail Middle School, including five laptops valued at $4,795 and two cameras valued at roughly $450 each.

At Cape Fear Elementary, $7,372.50 worth of items are listed as missing, including a laptop, iPad mini and electronics chargers. That does not include $618.96 in supplies listed as "damaged/missing."

Pender County Schools is not the only local body to see items disappear after Florence.

The University of North Carolina Wilmington has handled roughly 70 reports of larceny after students returned to their dorms to find personal items missing. UNCW police believe most of the items were taken in the days campus was reopened to allow in contractors and cleaning crews making repairs to buildings, though it's unknown if others could have come onto campus.

Spokespeople for Pender County Schools and the Pender County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to questions about whether the district has filed any police reports for missing items.

As district officials noted in the Facebook post, online donation campaigns for Pender County classrooms have popped up in the wake of the storm.

"Individuals and organizations from across the country reached out to Pender County Schools following Hurricane Florence seeking ways to assist staff and families," the post reads. "The Amazon Wish Lists were created so these individuals and organizations could support staff with their exact classroom needs. There is no connection between the missing/damaged list for insurance purposes and the Amazon Wish Lists. PCS is simply seeking all ways possible to support students and staff."

Reporter Cammie Bellamy can be reached at [email protected].

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