A stern warning about senior high school pranks for students of one North Texas school district.
The warning comes after a break-in at Timber Creek High School in the Keller Independent School District.
The school is located in the city of Fort Worth, where early Thursday morning police officers responded to a burglary alarm.
According to a police report, "an unknown suspect was inside the school and dumped items all around the school."
Fort Worth police told NBC 5 that they didn't know what the motive may be, but the school's principal told parents it may have been a prank.
A parent emailed a letter sent by Timber Creek principal Todd Tunnell to NBC 5 on Thursday.
May 15, 2014
Good morning, TCH parents,
I wanted to inform you this morning that several students got into our building last night and pulled what I suppose they consider to be a prank by spray painting, creating a mess to be cleaned up this morning by custodians, and some classrooms vandalized. The alarm did go off and police did arrive at school. This has caused a disruption this morning to people’s schedules and plans for the school day. This email is a reminder to you and your students that good choices are very important and that disruption of the learning environment will not be tolerated.
I am asking for your support and partnership with the school in our expectation to end our year without incident. Appropriate consequences will be given to students who engage in pranks. For seniors this does include the loss of graduation ceremony privileges. Thank you for your support and have a good day.Sincerely,
Todd Tunnell
Principal
The vandalism and prank wouldn't be a first for the high school. In May 2012, NBC 5 obtained video of a senior prank at the school where students were seen dumping liquids on the floor, sword fighting and other destructive behavior.
Four students from Timber Creek were not allowed to attend graduation ceremonies because of the incident. Eight other students at another Keller ISD high school were also banned from graduation.
Late Thursday afternoon, the district, in a statement to NBC 5, made it clear it won't tolerate such behavior again and won't hesitate to punish students for such behavior.
"Keller ISD will not tolerate students vandalizing a campus and disrupting the learning environment. This behavior is not considered a senior prank; it is a crime. Those involved will face the appropriate consequences. For seniors this does include the loss of graduation ceremony privileges. While the incident at Timber Creek H.S., involved unlawful entry outside of the regular school day, let this be a firm reminder to all students of the district's zero tolerance for this type of behavior."
Police did not find anyone in the school when they searched. All of the damage was done to inside the school and nothing was visible from outside on Thursday.
