OPINION: County Schools and DA: Keeping Children Safe from Guns Vandalism

What degree of safety do Washoe County Schools provide their students?

An answer can be found in one thing that happened this week in a County Court . . . and in one thing that did not.

One Thing That Happened

A group of Reno High School students were sentenced for breaking into the building and vandalizing it last May. They did a reported $7,000 of typical teenage damage (which would have been $838.16 in 1970).

Sentences handed down to the guilty students varied, depending on their age and the extent of their involvement.

Student punishments were pretty excessive and included various combinations of the following.

• Paying $500 fines, and paying for the damage they did

• 1-year probation

• Brief jail time

• Hundreds of community service hours

• Having to stay employed or in school during the next year

• Drug/alcohol testing and substance abuse treatment.

• 1-year jail sentences (suspended).

https://www.kolotv.com/2026/01/12/reno-high-vandals-sentenced-monday/

https://www.rgj.com/story/news/crime/2026/01/12/judge-gives-suspended-sentences-to-4-of-7-reno-high-vandals/88151776007/#:~:text=Judge%20gives%20suspended%20sentences%20to,sentencing%20Monday%2C%20Jan.%2012.

Even this fairly excessive punishment did not appease Washoe District Attorney Chris Hicks. Desiring to appear uncharacteristically tough-on-crime, Hicks appealed to the court for more and longer jail time for all the primary offenders. Kudos to the trial judge who denied Hicks’ absurd request and felt the punishments he handed out were sufficient.

It took over 7 months for this vandalism case to conclude. During that time, local media was saturated with ludicrous hyperbole by WCSD and DA Hicks to describe the incident and its teenage perpetrators. Their over-statements were irresponsible – similar in many ways to how you’d describe an act of genocide or murderous terrorism, and not drunken teens spray-painting a school locker.

What was the Other Reno HS-related event that Did NOT Happen this Week in County Court?

There were still no trial dates nor details released regarding an adult male who also committed a crime on the Reno HS campus. It occurred two days prior to “The Great Vandalism” last May.

The same WCSD administrators and DA Hicks, who went apoplectic over The Great Vandalism, treated this man’s crime as practically nothing.

According to media reports, they didn’t call a press conference. The schools didn’t honestly report it to the community or parents. The DA didn’t even keep this man in jail, but released him before he was arraigned. https://www.rgj.com/story/news/crime/2025/05/21/reno-high-man-arrested-guns/83772555007/

What was this man’s crime?

Based on how it was downplayed by the school district and DA Hicks, it must have been far less serious than The Great Vandalism.

After all, it only involved an old man from out of town. He was just sitting in his car at 7:00 a.m. in the Reno HS parking lot, while early students were already in class, on campus, and/or walking through the parking lot where his car was located.

He was JUST sitting in his car . . . . wasn’t he?

I need to inject a small detail.

Inside the man’s car and within arm’s reach,was a loaded rifle and pistol – with no registration number, and 4 knives. And yes . . . the man was well within shooting distance of the school campus.

If your children or grandchildren attend WCSD schools, consider how differently the 2 crimes were handled.

Consider which crime was most important to school leaders and DA Hicks, and which one was practically ignored.

Consider which crime put the lives of countless children – like yours – at risk.

Full-amount school vouchers for every parent, anyone?

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