Copper Thieves Cost Oklahoma City School District Thousands

News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Copper thieves have targeted several Oklahoma City schools meaning thousands of students will be without air conditioning in their classrooms as they head back to school.

Twelve air conditioning units have been targeted in the past couple of weeks at Capitol Hill High School, Wheeler Elementary and Lee Elementary.

The units are destroyed and will have to be replaced. Each new unit will cost the district anywhere from $4,000 to $9,000 a piece.

"It's a daunting task and when you're pulled away to do something out of sheer theft and vandalism, it's frustrating. It's frustrating for the crew as well because they know they had those units up and running and that was something we moved off our list now we're back to visiting," said Bob Cervi, Oklahoma City Public Schools Director of Maintenance.

The district is in the process of ordering the new units and hopes to get them installed during the coming weekends.