Of 123 high schoolers surveyed, 32 percent report that they have had items stolen from them during school hours over the last two months.

While students reported minor thefts as early as the second week of school, the issue became more serious when money began to disappear from multiple students’ zipped backpacks and wallets.

Although Daniel Neukom, dean of students, noted that “a lot of what students claim is ‘stolen’ is often just misplaced,” students and teachers alike are confident that many items are actually being stolen—not simply lost as was thought earlier—due to their expensive nature.

Among the items reported stolen are five iPods, four graphing calculators, two wallets, a digital camera, about $700 in cash and various textbooks.

“This is the first time I can remember that we’ve had a problem of this magnitude,” Neukom said.

Because it’s hard for people not attending the school to wander around unnoticed, headmaster Stephen Repsher believes that the thief is likely somebody on campus.

However, Neukom also noted that, as of now, it’s unknown whether there is just one thief or multiple thieves or if it’s students, teachers, or even middle schoolers.

Though the administration is doing their best to create a more secure environment, all agree that the most effective solution is for students to take better care of their belongings.

“I believe that most thefts have been ‘thefts of opportunity,’” Repsher said.

“If a student knows that valuable items are within their reach, their instinct is to take them.”

“If you safeguard your belongings, put your name on them, and lock them up, they won’t be stolen,” Neukom said.

On Friday, Nov. 3, at 4 p.m., 27 lockers were unlocked, 45 bags and backpacks were left unattended in the quads, and over 100 textbooks were left out.

There were only three students—all freshmen—on campus outdoors.

During school hours, there are even more items left out.

Sophomore Minji Kim, who has lost about $150 through multiple thefts, said that she used to leave her backpack and books out because “I have really heavy books and it’s hard for me to put all my stuff in my locker in the mornings because I have band and there are no passing periods.

“I trusted everyone, so I didn’t think to lock up all of my belongings,” she said.

But four recent thefts of cash from a wallet zipped in her backpack have taught her that this was only a false sense of security, she said.

She now locks all of her books and other belongings in her locker and leaves only her empty backpack out unattended.

To avoid theft, Repsher advocates that students not bring valuable items or large amounts of cash to school. “If [they are absolutely necessary], these expensive items should be kept in locked lockers or on your person.”

Senior Yee Lo agrees with Repsher. “A lot of people here are used to having a really safe community as if it’s their house; I have seen people leaving purses around unattended—they’re just waiting to be stolen.”

Junior Shira Bogin, who recently transferred from Folsom High School, said that at her old school, students werent even provided lockers.

“We got used to carrying everything around with us in our backpacks,” she said. “When people accidentally left stuff around, they would try to go back and get it really quickly because otherwise it would probably be stolen.”

According to Tom Wroten, director of technology, the school will soon install video cameras on campus, though they will be used more for general campus security than finding any particular thief.

The school has also adopted a method of keeping close records of the times and places at which items are disappearing so that a trend can be found that may lead to the thief’s discovery.

“I’d like to catch the thief and make an example of the person/people. Thieves are not part of the community and, sooner or later, we will find out who they are,” Neukom said.

Repsher agrees. “We will deal with [a proven thief] very seriously,” he said. “It is likely to be just one person, but it’s tearing apart the fabric of the entire community.”