Three men allegedly broke into Brent Elementary School early last Friday, making off with a number of electronic devices before students arrived for a day of classes. Brent, located on North Carolina Avenue, was hit last October and again in November, when two other schools were also the victim of thefts of computers.

The theft of computers and electronic gadgets is a problem that has plagued a number of public schools over the years. According to a Freedom of Information request we filed late last year, at least 230 computers have been stolen from D.C. public schools since 2009. Of those, only 50 have been recovered.

During many of the break-ins, multiple computers are taken at a time. A July 1, 2010 break-in at Alice Deal Middle School in Ward 3 netted the thieves 22 MacBooks, only one of which was ever recovered. Last May, 16 MacBooks were stolen from Shaw Middle School at Garnet-Patterson; two were recovered. According to reports from MPD and DCPS, 34 computers were stolen from the Walker Jones Education Campus during five incidents between March and September 2011. (Charter schools aren’t immune; last week a 19-year-old man was convicted of breaking into a charter school to steal computers.)

According to DCPS, the rise in thefts tracks with the increasing use of technology in classrooms. “The computer thefts are directly tied to an increase in the use of technology—as more schools use iPads, Kindles and laptops in the classrooms, schools become a target for thieves. Moreover, since 2007, we have modernized 47 of our current 117 buildings. The modernization is accompanied by brand new computers, smart boards and other technology. Combined with that schools are largely empty from Friday night until Monday morning, thieves are quick to target schools over the weekend or holiday breaks,” said DCPS spokeswoman Melissa Salmonowitz.

DCPS has taken a number of steps to secure computers and other electronic equipment, from increasing security over breaks to installing tracking software on computers. Given the low number of computers that have been recovered, though, Salmonowitz said that the trackers may not have been installed properly.

D.C. libraries have also been targeted. Six computers were stolen from the new Francis Gregory Neighborhood Library in Ward 7 last July; a few months prior, one Mac was stolen from the Northwest One Library, which is attached to Walker-Jones. According to testimony given by D.C. Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper to a D.C. Council committee last fall, there have been 10 break-ins at public libraries over the last two years. All told, the thefts have cost the city $65,000—$50,000 to replace the computers and $15,000 for repairs to the buildings. In that hearing, Cooper said that D.C. libraries were increasing security measures to prevent the break-ins.