Part of the appeal of senior pranks is that they walk a very thin line between acceptably edgy and going way too far. Some seniors at Memorial High School in Frisco, Texas, certainly pushed the envelope with their final farewell, and their decision has gotten a lot of negative attention.
According to what Frisco ISD told KDFW-TV, the original, approved senior prank plan involved a lot of sticky notes and a handful of students — but that’s not what happened when the students were let into the school Wednesday night.
Even though school staff was on hand, the students soon got so out of control that backup had to be called in.
“A small group of students from Memorial High School was approved to use Post-it notes on the walls to decorate and place messages around the campus as part of their senior prank last night,” a letter to parents from the school administration read.
“Staff members were on-site to monitor students, but the situation devolved rapidly, and the Frisco Police and Fire Departments became involved. Students vandalized the campus to a point that classes are not able to be held at MHS for the remainder of the week.”
Videos were circulated on social media showing messages featuring curse words painted on the walls, fire extinguishers being set off and general chaos — turning the school into an apocalyptic scene. No one was hurt, but the mess required extensive cleanup measures, and classes were canceled — citing air quality issues.
“There’s quite a bit of damage to the school,” said Teresa Mabrey, whose student did not participate. “The school’s going to have to be cleaned completely from top to bottom that has thousands of dollars worth of damages.”
“Damage is estimated in the thousands of dollars and includes paint on the walls, destruction of furniture, discharged fire extinguishers throughout campus and more,” administrators said.
“Every surface on the 300,000 sq. ft. campus must be cleaned, including the walls, ceilings and floors. Frisco ISD will hold the students responsible for costs associated with the clean up.”
The debacle is especially galling to those seniors who did not participate in the destruction but whose last two days of school were canceled because of their peers’ poor decision-making.
“It was another level of embarrassment for me because I was expecting just to go to school the next day and sticky notes be everywhere,” student Katelynn Mabrey added.
“They canceled school because of everything that happened. And now, I don’t get to see those teachers that were a big part of my life. And it’s just, it’s not funny. It’s not cool. It’s just sad.”
The district and police are working together to identify the students responsible and determine whether or not criminal charges will apply.
Determined not to let a few bad apples spoil the end of the year, some students and parents rallied to encourage teachers who were on campus Friday morning.
Over two dozen students and parents arrived to cheer on the teachers, handing them cookies and waving signs with supportive messages.
“The teachers and staff were meeting in the fieldhouse, so [Frisco Memorial principal] Mrs. Albuquerque let us go inside and form a little run-through [human tunnel] as the teachers were coming in, and we were cheering for them,” mom Cristi Paton told the Frisco Enterprise.
“They were coming in groups of two, three or five, and we were cheering for them and handing them cookies and telling them that we appreciated them.”
Hopefully next year’s seniors will take note of how this prank went down and be a little more considerate in their choice when the time comes.
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