Goodrich – A homecoming prank that went bad has landed five high school students in a five-day home suspension and five-day on campus detention.
The two-part disciplinary action comes after the students allegedly entered the high school just before midnight on Oct. 4.
The suspects vandalized lockers, unrolled toilet paper and removed ceiling tiles from the school’s gymnasium area. Sheriff Deputy Matthew McKay was near the school at the time and contacted police backups after seeing the masked student suspects in the building. The suspects Afled on foot and police followed with weapons drawn. Three were arrested in the early morning hours of Oct. 5. Two suspects were arrested later in the morning.
‘They need to look at the precedent they are setting,? said Genesee County Undersheriff James Gage, responding to the disciplinary action taken by school district officials. ‘This went beyond being just a prank, and I don’t think we or the school will hear the end of this for a long time. They could have been shot. It’s not every day that a deputy sees masked men inside a school that time of night.?
Gage said they made the police report and held the suspects during the night in jail. The investigation continued until they exhausted all leads and witnesses. However, he said it was the district that made the decision not to prosecute.
‘When the district made the decision not to sign a complaint, we left it up to them to handle it in-house,? said Gage.
Gage said the arresting officer could have been the complainant.
‘We could have ignored the district’s wishes; however, if there was no complaint signed, we can’t take it forward to the prosecutor. Also, what kind of cooperation would we have from the school at a trial? We had to respect their wishes,? said Gage.
Goodrich School Board President Michael Tripp said that in addition to the detention and suspension, the students will not be allowed to participate in social and external events until January when High School Principal David St. Aubin will re-evaluate their behavior.
‘Sometimes it takes an incident like this to cause legislators to enact laws to require administrators by law to report these kind of incidents,? Gage said.
‘Discipline is a tough job and each disciplinary situation is different. They have to take a lot of things into account such as a student’s academic record and attitude and then they have to weigh all of that with one incident.?