Andover High School Suspends Students For 'Unauthorized Pranks'

ANDOVER, MA — Parents and students said Andover High School suspended several students Thursday for a series of "unauthorized pranks." The pranks were carried out on the school's Class Day, which is the last day of school for seniors before graduation. Pranks ranged from synchronizing watch alarms to go off in lockers at the same time to placing watermelons in toilets of bathrooms on the second and third floors of the building.

In past years, the school's senior board has come up with an organized prank for approval from school administrators, and this year was no exception, according to a spokesperson for the school district.

"Every year the high school administration works with the Senior Board to coordinate surprises, as seniors celebrate the end of the school year. This year’s surprises were clever and went off without issue," Andover Public Schools spokesperson Nicole Kieser said. "There were some actions that were not part of the Senior Board’s celebration, and not approved by the administration. Students involved with those actions were disciplined accordingly."

Parents discussing the suspensions on a group for Andover residents said their children had told them as many as 15 students received two-day suspensions. There were also unconfirmed reports that seniors who received suspensions would also be barred from participating in graduation exercises.

The pranks reportedly got out of hand when students started smashing the watermelons and set off stink bombs. Several bathrooms had to be closed so the custodial staff could clean up the mess.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).