The new school year started very early Tuesday morning for many Mariposa County High School administrators and teachers. A number of students attempted to continue the tradition of a senior prank, but things went a little awry.

Mariposa County Sheriff Brian Mullers said deputies were conducting a routine security check around the school at about 1:45 a.m. on Tuesday. One deputy discovered the “extensive” vandalism to various buildings and areas of the campus. Black paint had been used to damage and deface a number of structures.

Muller said that walkways and pillars had been painted, as well as the statue of the school mascot, benches and kiosk. The front doors of the main building were covered with black, painted handprints. The numbers “2011” had been painted in black on the concrete vases in front of the main building. Five school buses were also vandalized with black paint.

Inside the main building, deputies found horse manure and baby powder scattered throughout the hallways. During the investigation, deputies stopped a vehicle in town that contained two young adults and three juveniles. During the course of the stop, Muller said deputies determined that the vehicle’s occupants were responsible for the vandalism and that as many as 20 other people had been involved.

Muller said the investigation remains open, and preliminary estimates have placed the damages and cost for repair at approximately $5,000. On Tuesday, the sheriff said his department had identified nine more people connected with the vandalism.

According to MCHS Principal Jay Fowler, three separate groups of students came to the school late Monday night with the intention of carrying out a prank. The first group used streamers, glitter, and washable window paint to decorate the campus. Fowler said something like that “would have been fine.”

However, a second group which was not related to the first, entered the main building and put horse manure in the hall. Even though the door doesn’t appear to have been properly closed, Fowler said that entering it was still “pretty serious.”

A third and also unrelated group, calling themselves the “riot makers,” used black, water-based paint to put handprints all over the school. They threw paint on walls and doors. It created quite a mess, although none of the damage was permanent.

“No one came with the intention of doing permanent damage,” Fowler said Tuesday afternoon. He said none of the students have habitual discipline problems, but there will be consequences for these actions.

Fowler said students face “in house” suspension during which they will be working at school, cleaning, painting and otherwise correcting the problems caused by the prank.

The new principal spent most of his first morning dealing with students and parents because of the pranks. Still, he noted it could have been worse, “No windows were broken, no doors smashed in,” he said. “This happens in high schools. It’s not unexpected, but it would have been nice if it didn’t happen.”

Once he was notified of the vandalism, Fowler rallied his custodial staff and teachers, some as early as 4:30 a.m. “It was a wonderful group effort to make this all go away before school started,” he said. All the vandalism was cleaned up before students arrived for the first day of school.

“We have nowhere to go but up,” Fowler said of the new school year.

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