The Associated Press reports that a high school in southwest Colorado had to close for four days due to a senior prank.
“The Durango Herald reported senior pranksters spread over 30 bales of hay around Durango High School’s common areas. School was canceled again Thursday as cleanup swept and dusted the debris left behind. The cleaning expenses are expected to top $100,000.”
“School officials say hay is one of the worst things you can bring into a building because of the respiratory problems it causes in enclosed spaces. Several employees have sought medical attention after reporting respiratory discomfort.”
“Air quality tests show mold spore counts from the hay were four times higher than recommended levels. Officials are awaiting a second round of test results before deciding whether to resume classes Friday.”
The story didn’t say if and how the seniors were being punished. I am sure they thought hay was something that could easily be picked up. In their minds I am sure that hay was much better than spray painting a school. Who would have thought it would cost $100,000 to clean up? Also I’m sure that an 18-year-old doesn’t think about mold spores that could wreak havoc on their classmates’ lungs.
Did you child’s senior class do a class prank this year? Did you in high school? Are there any that turn out well?
57 comments Add your comment
GovernmentSchoolsSuck
May 24th, 2011
8:30 am
@TinaTeach, there were at LEAST 4 errors in your post. There were 3 misspellings and at least one comma left out (if not two). Honestly, we wonder why our children cannot communicate properly. The “teachers” who are supposed to be teaching them are, at best, questionable. No matter what you teach, you should know how to spell, how to use a computer’s spellcheck, and how to construct a sentence…
TinaTeach
May 24th, 2011
8:56 am
@ Government Schools Suck- I did not know that there was a grammar police on this blog. Pardon me for not spell checking and for being an imperfect person. I can see I need to obviously bow down to your perfection. I use spell check when I am working on items for my students and for my school. When it comes to my own personal life, I really don’t care if I make a few errors. You need to get yourself a hobby. I mean a real hobby, not trolling the internet for spelling errors.
JOD
May 24th, 2011
9:52 am
I don’t see any issues with pranks, unless they cross the line into vandalism.
@TinaTeach – Sorry your school seemed to cross the line…and you picked up a troll ;o)
Some jokers in my class stole the horse (er…bronco for you Parkview grads) and put it up on the roof, facing the senior parking lot in time for the first bell. It was hilarious. Yes, the horse went back – no harm, no foul.
steve
May 24th, 2011
1:31 pm
kids don’t think about mold. it’s actually kinda funny. we had a somewhat similar issue at my kids school, it wasn’t a prank though. they brought in hay for some event and the same thing happened, they had to call in DeconPro Green to get rid of the mold. it didn’t take too long though, they did it all in a weekend.
Lucy Durango
May 26th, 2011
8:46 am
Moldy Hay did cause this closure. The DA will not press charges. 30 hours of community service, apologies to all. Cooler Heads Prevailed. The price tag is now $200,000 – give us all a break. The perpetrators turned themselves in because of course they did not think it would go this far. Insurance will cover the expense. I want to work for Haz Mat – $200,000 for 4 days of work!
Formerly of Durango
May 29th, 2011
2:25 pm
£200K to clean a few corridors over 4 days……..the company that charged that amount of money….was Best Cleaning of Durango. How the school district let someone bill them $200K without getting a second or third quote is beyond me. Durango School District 9-R is always complaining about lack of money, but didn’t think anything of spending this huge sum of money and upping their insurance premium. I thought Government funds had to go out for bid? There are companies 4 hours away in Albuquerque and Santa Fe who could have provided a competitive bid. In my humble opinion, they didn’t have to get screwed.
Formerly of Durango
May 29th, 2011
2:30 pm
No criminal charges were bought either. It’s all rather strange.