Homecoming is devolving into teenagers gone wild at Shawano Community High School, and Superintendent Kurt Krizan wants the shenanigans to end.
The high school sent a note to parents Sept. 25 addressing incidents of vandalism, including a student shooting frozen paint balls at property, as well as trespassing and other crimes as reported to School Resource Officer Tyler Thornborrow. Krizan said that SCHS Principal Matthew Raduechel contacted him the night before about the incidents.
“The report that we received said students were shooting frozen paint balls at homes and damaged some mailboxes,” Krizan said.
He noted that officials spoke to students at a pep rally prior to homecoming week warning that the district was not going to let pranks gone wrong or “unlawful activity” in the name of homecoming go without consequences.
“When it comes down to it, it’s really trespassing, vandalism and property damage in and around the community,” Krizan said.
The latest batch of incidents comes a year after a homecoming incident where students were injured while trying to pull pranks at athletic director Joel Wondra’s home.
So far, there have been no criminal charges filed in the incidents, according to the Shawano Police Department. Chief Mike Musolff noted that punishment for the paint ball incident was handled by the school district, because the perpetrator was an athlete, and the incident violated the sports code.
Krizan said there was a likelihood that homecoming activities could be canceled if negative activities persist, but in a phone interview Sept. 26, he hadn’t received any further reports of students breaking the law.
“We will monitor what happens tonight to see if the events scheduled for Saturday will go on,” Krizan said.
Musolff said Sept. 26 had a variety of criminal activities that kept officers busy but couldn’t confirm if any of them were attributable to SCHS students.
Musolff, who is also a Shawano School Board member, said parents need to do a better job of monitoring their teenaged children.
“Parents have to know their kids aren’t in the house,” Musolff said. “Parenting would be a great thing for us to have.”
He added that it’s hard for the high school to punish students who are committing criminal acts outside of school hours and off school premises unless they are in select groups like sports.
Krizan said he hopes that the other crimes will be solved and the responsible individuals identified so that the entire student body doesn’t have to bear the consequences. He noted the acts have escalated in the last couple of years, and it needs to stop.
“That’s the part of it that’s the most frustrating,” Krizan said. “This is a situation where you have a small group of students that’s doing something that represents our entire student body, and it doesn’t represent who our kids truly are. There’s nothing we hate more than punishing a whole group of kids based on something only a few individuals have done.”
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com