Over two dozen students, including the class valedictorian, were been banned from one of the most important ceremonies of their lives after a senior prank got out of hand.
The students of Crispus Attucks High School executed a senior prank on Tuesday that caused significant damage to the school. According to a statement released by the school district, students and some adults “vandalized areas of the school building, a local and national historical landmark.”
The students allegedly wrote on the walls, pulled the fire alarm, sprayed the fire extinguisher, threw food all over the floors and wrecked several student records, PEOPLE reports.
Two days later, the students showed up to graduation but were denied entry. In turn, the banned students held their own ceremony across the street at a church.
As a result of the vandalism, the students will have to complete eight hours of a campus beautification project to receive their diploma.
Though all of the students were banned, the valedictorian thinks it’s unfair, although she admits to participating in parts of the prank.
“I was very upset,” Kayla Hawthorne told PEOPLE. “Although I was innocent, we still had to suffer the same consequences as the people who were culpable,” she said, adding that she put food on the door handles and posed a faux principal in an office chair. However, she feels she should not receive the same punishment as those who vandalized the school, adding that the officials should have checked the footage to see who did what. “I think they have the ability to dig deeper and find out who did the vandalism.”
According to Hawthorne’s dad, the students will not be charged for the prank.
