Students to pay, work for prank

Twenty-nine Sandpoint High School students are paying the price – in labor and sawbucks – for a senior class prank that vandalized school property.

If the students complete 15 hours of volunteer work before graduation, they will still be allowed to walk at commencement ceremonies, according to the school district. The students also have been asked to pay for nearly $1,000 in damage.

The vandalism occurred about a week ago, officials said. The students took a school counselor’s keys and used them to enter the high school after hours, police said.

The seniors urinated inside the school, put Vaseline on door knobs, left full glasses of water in the front lobby and wrote messages like “Class of 2012” on windows and doors using washable ink, said Sandpoint Police Chief Mark Lockwood.

“The principal and I met with the students this morning,” said Dick Cvitanich, Pend Oreille School District superintendent. “We are all satisfied that they are taking responsibility for their actions.”

In addition to volunteering, the students have to help set up and tear down for the graduation ceremonies, Cvitanich said.

Catching the culprits was pretty easy, Lockwood said. The whole prank was caught on tape.

“It’s a little tough to go into a place with cameras everywhere and not get recognized … even if you have a hood over your head,” Lockwood said. School employees knew enough of the students’ characteristics to identify them.

Despite the police investigation, none of the students are being charged at this point, Lockwood said. “The school district wanted to handle it on their own.”

Said Cvitanich, “We talked about how every time we do something there’s a consequence. It was a teaching moment, I’d say.”