Ohio Senior Prank Forces Entire District to Cancel School

High school senior pranks might get students punished from time to time—but it's not every day that they result in felony charges. That, however, is the case for four seniors at the Northwestern Local School District in Ohio, after their prank led to the closure of all district schools on Friday. Taylor Monroe, Stewart Parrott, and Justin Weekly, all 18, as well as Anthony Esposito, 19, are accused of letting the air out of 24 school buses' tires by breaking off the valve stems, WHIO reports. That's the whole fleet of buses, the New Carlisle News notes. "You have been pranked by seniors 2015," said a chalked message, adding: "To have school or to not have school?"

"Typically I would say there shouldn’t be repercussions for senior pranks, but I’d say this went farther than most," one parent tells WHIO. Indeed, the teens have been charged with vandalism as well as disrupting public service, both felony charges. "They did some real damage here, and they’re going to have to pay for it," says the district's superintendent. That includes thousands of dollars' worth of damage as well as forcing many parents to get last-minute care for their kids. The district has 2,000 students, and private school students also use the buses, New Carlisle News reports. The district is determining the "maximum punishment" they could face, including expulsion, WHIO notes. (Last year, another senior prank got plenty of attention: a mariachi band followed the principal around for an hour.)