School Board Chairman: Graduation Not Changing, but Punishments Will be in Order After THS Prank Incident

Depending on which version one subscribes to, amid the text messages, e-mails and social media posts, Wednesday's senior prank gone wild at Tolland High School was either the second coming of the 1971 Attica Prison Riot or a few ants interrupting a picnic.

Board of Education Chairman Andy Powell, after a focused meeting on Thursday with Superintendent of Schools William Guzman and THS Principal Dominique Fox, said the incident lasted 15 minutes, was quieted quickly, but is being considered a serious offense by administrators. 

"We want to have a good graduation next week to celebrate what the seniors have accomplished," Powell said on Thursday during a lengthly phone interview. "But we are also going to discipline those involved quickly and appropriately."

Powell said those punishments have not been sorted out yet. He added, "It wasn't just the senior class, unfortunately."

Graduation is scheduled for a week from Friday on campus. 

So how did pepperoni turn into peppering in the middle of a hallway? 

Powell said that dissent among seniors seems to have escalated when a warning was sent out by Fox via a telephone message telling students that any senior pranks would be considered a punishable offense. 

He agreed with most of the accounts that say wearing black and walking out to a pizza party were common schemes. He said that would never fly because for security reasons, students would not be allowed to leave the building for something like that.

He said a protest made its way to a hallway and that quickly escalated into a mob scene of thrown objects. He said no one was singled out for attack and no one was hurt. He said no one has been arrested. 

But his voice turned to the angry side when he added the antics, "showed a lack of respect for the school property and other students and staff."

He added, "It was inappropriate, showed a lack of control and no one thought about the impact on safety and security." Last year's prank was a freeze-tag game, Powell said.   

He said he was glad the students showed the initiative to speak out against some of the rules, but added many of the grievances were not realistic. 
He said backpacks, for example are not allowed in hallways because they could used to conceal something. That was a rule even before Newtown, he said. 

"Another was water bottles," he said. "Water bottles cannot be allowed because students - and this is in schools throughout the country not just Tolland - were using them to hide alcohol."

Powell said he was "puzzled" by the use of words like oppression by students when referring to the rules of the school. 

"Have they looked around?" he asked rhetorically. 

Tolland High School staffers cleaned the hallways while students were returned to the classrooms after the incident, Powell said. The custodial staff went over the entire area several times, he said. 

Powell did not have a timetable for disciplinary announcements, but he added, "the administration has my full support." He said a note is being sent to parents explaining the situation. 

"We are gathering on Friday to celebrate what our students haver done," he said of next week's graduation. "The administration has dealt with this swiftly and that will continue as those who were involved are identified and punished." 

He said he and the administrators waiting until Thursday to openly discuss what happened to avoid a "knee-jerk reaction."