News Story 1

To protest their punishment of being banned from the all night senior party due to a

senior prank, 20 seniors and their parents plan to attend a school board meeting tomorrow to

speak during the public forum.

A group of 20 seniors released over 1,000 balloons on April 3. The balloons were

released in the hallway between first and second period. The seniors said they were just pulling a

senior prank.

“I gave ample warnings to the senior class that I would not tolerate any sort of prank that

disrupts school,” principal Vinta Haygood said. “Releasing more than 1,000 balloons between

classes did precisely that. Students were late to class because of the chaos created in the

hallway.”

As a punishment, the seniors were suspended from school for the rest of the day and were

banned from the all-night senior party taking place on Friday, May 1 at Park Place. “The

principal’s punishment is too severe,” senior Alfred Refugio said. “The prank was funny. It

wasn’t mean and didn’t hurt anyone. We were being seniors, having fun and making memories. I

don’t regret it at all. I still think it’s funny.”

The previous year, a group of seniors smeared Vaseline on the doorknobs and locks of

every locker. None of the seniors from the previous year were caught.

“I think the board will listen to us,” senior Ruby Kanur said. There are so many bad

senior pranks out there. We blew up a few balloons and released them. It wasn’t a big deal, but

Principal Haygood is turning it into one.”

Ruby’s mom had already known of the prank taking place.

 “Let the punishment fit the crime,” Ruby’s mom Milly Kanpur said. “They were

balloons. When my daughter told me what they were doing, I thought it was a cool idea. These

kids have worked hard for 12 years. They deserve a little fun.”

One hundred and fifty students were tardy to their second period class.

“The hallways were chaotic and super loud during the balloon release,” math teacher

Grace Killen said. “The seniors didn’t mean any harm, but the prank was disruptive. Almost half

of my class was late. It took me more than 15 minutes to get my freshmen calmed down.”

Students that receive more than three tardies in a semester are required to serve a 30

minute after school detention. Killen said it would have been bettetter if the prank was pulled at a

later time.

“They should have released the balloons at the end of the day,” Killen said. “That would

have been much less disruptive.”

Haygood stands by her decision to have suspended the seniors and ban them from the

all-night senior party.

“The seniors are welcome to speak at the board meeting, but the board should not reverse

my decision,” Hagood said.