Several thefts have been committed in the Staples girls’ locker rooms lately. A majority of the stolen belongings, mostly consisting of AirPods, were returned to several students last Friday.

On Thursday, Dec. 8, and Friday, Dec. 9, several female Staples students exited the locker room to attend their Physical Education classes, and returned to find some of their personal items missing from their bag. AirPods, debit cards, cash and phone cases were among some of the missing items from these backpacks. All Staples students are provided with a locker in the locker room with a code they have to memorize, but these backpacks were left out of the lockers and on the benches or floor. On Dec. 9, a majority of the stolen items were given back to the students, although some claim to still not have their items returned.

“We were able to solve these thefts,” Principal Stafford W. Thomas Jr. wrote. “However; it should be noted that none of the items were locked away- and some were left out in the open.”

At the beginning of a student’s four years at Staples, they are provided with a locker and a code to use for the entirety of their time in high school. Physical Education teachers are told to advise students to lock up their belongings so they don’t get stolen.

“We try to take the best precautions we can,” School Resource Officer Ed Wooldridge said. “[…] All female students are issued a locker with a combination. They choose not to do it. It’s a little bit of their responsibility to take care of their belongings and lock them up. Not that this stuff should be happening, but it does.”

Many students argue that the school’s lockers aren’t sufficient to use, considering that each one has a combination that must be memorized.

“The lockers are really inconvenient to use,” Lola Lamensdorf ’25 said. “The last time I did use them I got a tardy for missing class, so I kind of just gave up.”

Several students who had items stolen recall returning to the locker rooms and panicking once they realized they were missing belongings.

“We tried Find my IPhone and everything to find [my AirPods],” Angelina Matra ’25 said. “It kept showing me this one weird location in the school and I couldn’t find where they were… I was really freaking out.”

While many students have received their items back, some are still struggling to have them returned.

“I went to the office and they kept guiding me different ways, and I just haven’t been able to find [my AirPods] since,” Lamensdorf said. “It’s kind of weird because you go and say ‘hey, my things are gone,’ […] it’s hard because you don’t want to get penalized for not using the lockers when they tell you to.”

Some students were asked to call their parents and possibly press charges against the person who stole.

“If somebody takes your personal items, because you guys are juveniles, we have to call Mom and Dad and see if they want to [press] charges,” Wooldridge said. “If not, they don’t get arrested for it, but that doesn’t mean there’s not school consequences.”

Days after the incidents occurred, Staples students remain shocked by the situation.

“You don’t really expect it,” Lamensdorf said. “I didn’t expect my AirPods to just be taken out of my bag. You don’t really think that anyone would do that… the locker room needs to have better security other than lockers that are really difficult to use.”