High School Students Are Arrested Following a Senior Prank With Expensive Consequences

High school pranks — like spelling out Seniors 2008 in plastic forks on the soccer field (sorry, Principal Schneider) — are normally harmless enough that suspension or expulsion isn't even considered, but four high school seniors' not-so-harmless prank went above and beyond what most schools see in the months before graduation.

The four teens in question, from Springfield, OH, were arrested on Friday after deflating the tires of 24 buses, which caused thousands of dollars in damage, as well as canceled classes and field trips. Surveillance at the transportation center where the buses are parked overnight caught the teens on the property just before 2 a.m. Friday, and a note was found at the crime scene that read, "You have been pranked by seniors 2015. To have school or to not have school?"

The students — Taylor Monroe, 18, Stewart Parrott, 18, Anthony Esposito, 19, and Justin Weekly, 18 — are being charged with vandalism and disrupting public service.

Samantha Hart, parent of a fourth grader in the Northwestern district, says her son was devastated that his field trip was canceled due to the prank. Like Hart, many parents struggled to find child care at the last minute on Friday morning, resulting in extra child-care costs and an unexpected day off work for some parents. Superintendent Tony Orr commented, "I'm disappointed in the students. We expect our students to use better judgment, but in this case, they did not."

Orr says that this type of criminal activity cannot be dismissed as a prank and that the district will be looking into the maximum punishment for the students, including suspension or expulsion.