Band equipment and nearly 50 laptop computers, stolen from Proviso East High School over the summer, have been replaced, with the cost covered by insurance.
A total of 14 band instruments were stolen from a locked storage room two weeks before the theft was reported on July 13 to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. According to the theft report, the instruments were stolen between June 21 and 29.
The instruments, which included saxophones, trumpets and a clarinet, were listed as an estimated loss of $36,000 in the theft report. According to the report, the items were stored in a locked room at Proviso East at the time of the theft. No sign of forced entry was reported by an investigating sheriff’s police office. The report also said there was no alarm or surveillance monitoring systems for the room.
 A total of 48 Dell laptop computers were also reported stolen over the summer from the Proviso East library between July 9 and Aug. 11. According to a separate theft report compiled by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, two previously locked carts that held the laptops were found unsecured by school staff with all the computers missing. The locked carts were stored in an unlocked room in the library.
District 209 spokesman Rob Daniels said the items have since been replaced and the cost to replace them covered by insurance. Daniels said that, since the thefts, “any entries that were used or could have been used have been reinforced.” He said the school’s staff works hard to make sure all the school’s exterior doors are secured for the safety of students and staff.
Daniels added that if anyone in the community has information about the thefts, they should call Proviso East’s tip hotline at 708-202-1731.
