Senior prank goes bad

High school seniors at Heritage High School in Brentwood thought they had devised the perfect farewell gift for their school. That is, until it went a little too far.

Last week 25 students decided to tread through their campus with washable paint on their shoes.

Sounds innocent enough, maybe even a bit funny. But then they decided to take the prank a bit further. They finished out the night by chaining a lamb to a light pole and moving a 500-pound concrete bench.

Marco Sanchez, one of the seniors who participated in a prank, told CBS San Francisco:

“We also removed the cement benches and we stacked them. They’re really heavy and we stacked them on top of each other and then we saran wrapped it shut. It was pretty funny.”

It should come as no surprise that school administrators were not amused. While nearly 80 students were involved in the antics, Principal Larry Oshodi administered the worst punishments to 25 students directly involved.

After spending the weekend cleaning up the mess, students received five-day suspensions, meaning they can’t take this week’s final exams and, perhaps, jeopardizing their chances of graduating. Not that they’d be allowed to participate, since they also got banned from the graduation ceremony.

A hefty fine to pay for something that started out as a harmless prank. You know what they say: It’s all fun and games until the lamb gets involved. Or something like that.

Oshodi told Contra Costa County Times:

“Just the gravity and extent of it goes beyond just some little pranks and leaving a footprint. It was excessive. It’s a distorted rite of passage.”

Other students don’t think the consequences match the crime. Student Nick Rovira told ABC7:

“Yeah, they destroyed the school, but I still think they should be able to graduate and walk and stuff.”

Yesterday several students involved in the incident stood outside the campus holding signs asking for forgiveness. Parents are meeting with school officials this week in hopes they may show mercy on their kids by letting them finish their finals and participate in graduation.