Did you know that every textbook, library book, computer, and computer charger that is lost has to be replaced by the school? Each computer costs $500-$2000, and each textbook costs $40-$180 to replace. 

From August 2025 until now, our school has lost $21,611.54 in total! The high school is responsible for a majority of these losses. $18,374.27 of that total is due to textbooks. Over the years, our losses have remained relatively consistent with these numbers. Currently, there are 196 textbooks not returned, and the replacement value is $15,891 because $3,000 of that has been marked as “lost,” which happens when a student no longer attends CORE and does not return the book. 

It may seem like not a terribly big deal to lose, say, your computer charger—but those chargers cost the school $60 each! For that reason, CORE admin has added barcodes to the chargers so that they are easier to keep track of.  

So what happens when you lose something that belongs to the school? CORE trusts us to be responsible with our books and computers. If something goes missing, first, the administration sends multiple warning emails to families asking for payment. However, sadly, those emails are often ignored and CORE is fined for the money instead. PLTs are sent lists of students with missing items each May to remind them.  

Once a student withdraws from the school, the fees are eventually “lost,” and all CORE can do is send a bill because, according to California laws, they can not hold the fee over a student or family. However, if we did not have all this loss of money, then CORE would be able to afford $21,000 in improvements to our student experience. That could pay for a lot!

What if a student steals (or accidentally takes) a school laptop and does not give it back? After the first warning emails, CORE locks the laptop remotely (yes, they can do that). Then, you might get a few calls from our beloved principal, Mr. Harvey.

Kristi Harper, CORE curriculum coordinator and librarian, describes how crazy she finds it that people just ignore the emails.”It’s not in my brain to not return a library book,” Harper said.

Principal Matt Harvey says that the loss of money is “disappointing”, but that “it is the nature of society to not have a lot of consequences for our actions.” And although he wishes there were more consequences in place, there is not much CORE can do to change it. 

So just remember that the next time you lose something, the school has to pay for it. And that means less money for events or upgrades.