🏫 Vacant Cooper School boarded up to deter intruders

Boards have gone up covering the first-floor windows of the vacant Cooper School over the past week, a response to an increasing number of break-ins and vandalism.  

Public records show at least 33 police calls to the property associated with break-ins and burglary in the past year. Workers hanging the boards told me there is extensive damage inside, including graffiti and torn-off drywall.

Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) said it is "armoring" a few of its vacant buildings, which includes putting plywood over the ground-floor windows and beefing up the hardware on the doors. They said they've "experienced reduced intrusions" at other vacant schools where windows have been boarded.