Teens Broke Into Lloyd Road School In Aberdeen After Hours, Some Say School District Overreacted

ABERDEEN, NJ — A group of teenage juveniles broke into Lloyd Road elementary school in Aberdeen on Monday night, said Aberdeen Police Chief Matthew Lloyd.

Aberdeen Police officers responded to Lloyd Road School that evening and searched the building inside and out, but could not locate the teens, he said.

However, all the teens have since been identified and the school district is talking to their parents, said the police chief. He also said the teens did not appear to cause any vandalism or steal anything.

"A review of the school’s camera system confirmed the juveniles had been inside but left prior to our arrival," said the police chief. "At this time, there is no indication of any theft or vandalism to the building. Through a joint investigation between the police department and the school district, all involved subjects were identified. The school has elected to handle the matter internally."

However, some in Aberdeen say Matawan-Aberdeen schools superintendent Neylda Perez overreacted to what happened: First, all school buildings in the district (not just Lloyd Road School) were abruptly evacuated on Monday night. Teenagers and kids in the middle of youth basketball games were told halfway through the game they had to stop playing and flee the building, and never given any reason why, said a parent.

Secondly, the school district took the additional step of telling all outside groups, such as youth wrestling teams, basketball teams, Cub Scouts and church groups, they could not use any Aberdeen school building after hours this week "due to recent vandalism," said the district.

Perez did not respond for this article. But there has been recent vandalism inside Aberdeen schools, said the school district, and it is not just referring to what happened Monday night.

"Over the last several weeks, the administration has investigated a series of incidents that occurred in our schools and on school grounds after school hours," said the school district in a letter to the community. "These incidents included vandalism, drug paraphernalia found in one of our school buildings as well as unauthorized access to school buildings (including trespassing) during community use."

The school district said it had to shut down all outside access to schools this week to do an emergency assessment of building security. On Wednesday, the school district allowed outside groups, such as Cub Scouts and sports teams, back, but with a strict new set of rules that limits access to the school buildings.

The Aberdeen Forward political team, which consists of newly elected Mayor Greg Cannon, Councilwoman Margaret Montone and Councilman Pedro Mirabal, posted a public Facebook comment Wednesday that called the school district's response "extreme."

The mayor said he is talking with the superintendent about how she handled this.

"Aberdeen parents and taxpayers: We have reached out to the MARSD superintendent about the district’s extreme response in closing all of its facilities in response to an apparent act of non-emergent vandalism," read the statement. "We will advocate on behalf of parents and taxpayers that these facilities are vital to providing our community with spaces for many activities — from religious gatherings on weekends to youth recreational sports all week. Of course, we will keep you updated on the situation and when our community activities may resume in the buildings that we all paid for as taxpayers and should only be closed for emergencies."

School buildings should only be closed for emergencies, stressed Mayor Cannon.

Cannon said the following to Patch Thursday morning:

"The Aberdeen Mayor and Council support every action taken by the district to keep our children safe, but we encourage more transparency and prudence from the Board of Education when such actions involve the unannounced and immediate closure of seven public buildings relied upon by thousands of Aberdeen residents for their weekly worship, recreation and other vital community services."