A public high school in north Texas ended its school year two days early over a “senior prank” that caused thousands of dollars in damages and required police to restore order.
Frisco’s Memorial High School remained closed Friday as officials worked with local law enforcement to identify the small group of seniors seen in viral TikTok videos overturning tables, deploying fire extinguishers and painting the walls.
Frisco police told Houston news station KHOU on Thursday that the incident, which evolved from a school-approved prank for seniors to leave Post-it notes on the walls, remains under investigation.
School administrators told parents in an email that they will hold the offending seniors “responsible for costs” involved in cleaning the school, which opened in 2018.
“Staff members were on-site to monitor students, but the situation devolved rapidly, and the Frisco Police and Fire Departments became involved. Students vandalized the campus to a point that classes are not able to be held at MHS for the remainder of the week,” the administrators wrote.
The pranksters reportedly covered surveillance cameras, wrapped clocks in plastic and scattered trash throughout the 300,000 square-foot school building.
Abhi Bandi, a senior not involved in the incident, told the local NBC DFW, “These two days were going to be our last days to say goodbyes to people we may never see again, say goodbye to our teachers that we care for so much. It’s the whole class that had it ruined just because of a few kids that decided to vandalize the school.”
The incident was one of two “senior pranks” that have summoned police to Texas public high schools just this week.
Late Wednesday night, police responded to a report of “acts of criminal mischief” at New Braunfels High School north of San Antonio, where they briefly detained dozens of students who were in the process of trashing the building. District officials came early Thursday to clean up the “huge mess,” allowing classes to start on time.
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.
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