High schools vandalized

Officials say senior pranks have gone too far

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

"It happens this time of year. But the senior pranks have gone a bit too far and we're going to take action against them," said Sgt. Larry Titus, the school liaison for the Calvert County Sheriff's Office.

It has been mostly spray painting on school property, and "there's been some destruction of school property that may need to be replaced," he said. "It's very disrespectful."

Some of the spray-painting can be costly to repair, he added.

Law enforcement will step up patrols at all the high schools and there is already surveillance at all the schools, Titus said. If a senior is caught, he or she might be denied participation in graduation activities, he said.

"They've done that for certain violations in the past," Titus said of the school board. Titus asks parents to talk to their children about the seriousness of vandalizing schools.

Kim Roof, director of student services for Calvert County public schools said, "This is not how you want to end the school year.

"Don't do something to jeopardize your standings," she said about the students.

She would like parents to have a conversation with their kids and "help them work on making good decisions," she said.

If caught, there are a multitude of possibilities; students could be arrested or suspended, Roof said, adding, "We always go back to the student Code of Conduct."

Northern High School was vandalized on Thursday night with graffiti spray painted on the side of a trailer, on its display sign at the entrance of the school and on the window of a door, said Principal George Miller.

"Periodically we have these types of things happen, I don't know though if it was a senior prank," he said. "There's a difference between senior pranks and vandalism."

With the budget as it is, "It disappoints me to need to spend money on vandalism, it takes away from the good things we can do," he added. The school does have some security cameras, and officials are hoping to find out who vandalized the school, Miller said.

Huntingtown High School was also hit with spray painting on the windows, sidewalks and the building.

"The extent of ours was graffiti," said Principal Rick Weber. Much of the paint used was "puff paint" that is easily removed and most of it was washed off by custodians, faculty and Weber himself before the students arrived on Friday, he said.

Most of the painting said "seniors rule, '09," but some said, "Calvert High School rules" and "Northern High School rules," he said. Whether it was Huntingtown students playing a joke or students from the other schools, Weber said he wasn't sure.

"A couple of things I would consider inappropriate," Weber said of the sayings sprayed around the school.

Signs were also placed on restrooms around the school on Friday saying they were closed due to vandalism, he said.

"That's what I consider a prank, the other stuff would be considered vandalism," Weber said.

Patuxent High School was one of the luckier schools with everything cleaned up Friday morning and no damage to the school. Principal Nancy Highsmith, who said the school talked with seniors early about senior pranks, said she was thankful that the seniors just used confetti, streamers and shoe-polish-type paint on windows and chalk on buildings, all of which can be easily washed off.

"I'm all for senior pranks, but when it gets to destruction, that crosses the line," she said. Highsmith said she called all the seniors out of first period to clean the mess up and they complied.

charvat@somdnews.com