Police are beefing up patrols of Dunedin schools after a spate of vandalism and thefts.
For 11 Dunedin schools, the academic year has begun with tagging, taps being left on, deliberate property damage and thefts.
Sergeant Chris McLellan said thousands of dollars worth of damage - much from "pointless vandalism" - had left some school administrators contemplating installing security cameras and hiring private security firms.
In addition, police had increased nightly patrols around schools and wanted members of the public to report any suspicious behaviour, including noting relevant vehicle registration numbers.
Earlier this month, a tip-off from the public sparked the arrest of two men, aged 20 and 21, who had targeted a central Dunedin school.
Sgt McLellan said police had charged the men with burglary and they were expected to appear in the Dunedin District Court this month.
"That shows the benefit of strong community support."
Police believed some of the cases were linked, but after reviewing files did not believe the thefts were linked to organised crime.
A Dunedin school principal, who declined to be named, said the damage to his school was not worth an insurance claim but still had to be funded out of the school's budget.
"It can be of a real nuisance value ... and we still have to get the money from somewhere."
In 2009, Taieri College installed $15,000 worth of security cameras.
Combined with additional floodlights, this resulted in fewer problems with vandalism, a spokesman said.
Otago Secondary Principals Association president Julie Anderson welcomed extra police patrols, and said schools were already proactive in their use of private security firms.
Vandalism was not as big a problem in Otago as in northern areas, so Otago schools received less in their operating grants to deal with it.
Costs associated with vandalism, which includes graffiti and deliberate property damage but excludes arson, are covered by schools' Ministry of Education operating grants.
Each school's grant takes into account the number of pupils and the vandalism risk.
Ministry of Education group manager property management Kim Shannon said each school was placed in a risk category (A to E) based on the historical cost of vandalism at that school.
Each risk category attracted a different rate of funding per pupil, the lowest (A) category attracting funding of $3 per pupil and the highest (E) $25 per pupil.
Most schools in Otago and Southland were classified A or B, signifying they had a low risk of vandalism.
If the cost of vandalism exceeded the vandalism grant, a school could apply for a "top-up".
It can use the grant money for other operational expenses if vandalism spending was less.
Schools that applied for vandalism top-ups for three years were provided with a free security audit.
New schools were required to consider security as part of their design process, whereas existing schools could adopt "vandalism reduction measures" such as fencing, CCTV systems and security-system upgrades.
