The White Plains School District is still rounding up members of the Class of 2012 suspected of orchestrating a senior prank that caused the school to call the police and conduct .
“The investigation is ongoing,” said Superintendent Dr. Christopher Clouet. “So we don’t have a final list [of those involved], but we know some of the people that organized it.”
Clouet said that the seniors who have been identified would appear before a superintendent’s hearing to determine whether or not further disciplinary action will be taken.
“Which I anticipate there will be in some cases,” Clouet said.
Clouet didn’t say whether or not students would be prevented from graduating or participating in graduation services, but he did say, “All options are on the table.”
The superintendent confirmed that Thursday’s event started as a senior prank and was intended to be a water balloon fight in the parking lot—but some individuals started up early in the cafeteria, escalating the event into a food fight.
“After 12 [p.m.] some students threw water balloons at some other kids,” said Clouet. “Those kids returned fire, if you will, with pieces of pizza and milk cartons. Most people immediately exited [the cafeteria] pretty quickly and went into the classrooms, and were locked in.”
Clouet said that students attended their last period class and were dismissed without incident, and that there were no fights, arrests or serious injuries—however, one student did end up with a sprained ankle.
“It was an unfortunate situation, some students misbehaved and its unacceptable,” said Clouet. “I’m disappointed in their actions. Most of the students in this school were not involved in the situation, and lot of the students were disappointed and disgusted with their fellow students.”
YouTube videos (found here and here) show students running through the halls and cafeteria screaming, as balloons and food was thrown about the school. According to a YouTube member Gregory Grice—who posted a video of the incident—administrators, teachers and students were hit with balloons and food. Dachshundlover14 also said on YouTube that some students had filled balloons with bleach and urine. This has not been confirmed or denied by the school district.
Clouet said that he isn’t trying to downplay the incident, but feels that some have blown it out of proportion.
“It has taken on a life of its own with social media, Facebook and YouTube,” said Clouet. “I believe the kids were acting up a little for the camera, so that adds to this some. Some adults in the community have also added to the furor, making this more than it was. It was an unfortunate incident. It was not a violent incident and it didn’t result in vandalism, and it’s something we don’t expect to be repeated again.”
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