A shuttered San Jose middle school has been vandalized for a second time since closing, causing an estimated $200,000 in damage for a cash-strapped school district.
The latest vandalism happened at the former Joseph George Middle School, one of eight schools the Alum Rock Union School District closed last year because of declining enrollment.
Damage throughout the campus includes fire extinguishers ripped from classroom walls, open manholes, scraps of copper and electrical wiring, broken glass, and ransacked classrooms.
“Disappointed, disgusting,” Alum Rock Union School District Superintendent Dr. Marnie Hazelton said. “Any building that is supposed to serve children, to see it in such disrepair and disarray is concerning, to say the least.”
Hazelton said police also found bullets inside one of the classrooms.
“Scavengers – copper wiring, electrical wiring,” Hazelton said. “They’ve pulled out the HVAC systems.”
The school was first vandalized in August 2025. No one has been arrested.
San Jose police are investigating the latest vandalism.
“It’s scary, it’s shameful, and it’s absolutely disgusting,” neighbor Carole Stanford said.
Stanford uses the campus to work out. The district left the gates open so the community could use the field, but she now worries about losing access.
Stanford said she saw several people climbing the fences during school hours.
“I saw two young men, young boys and a girl, during school hours, climb the fence,” she said.
Hazelton is giving school board members individual, private tours of the damage so they can see it for themselves and move to secure the shuttered campus.
Talks remain underway to sell, lease or reuse the district’s vacant campuses.