BY DAVE PARRO
Kaneland school officials have identified at least six seniors as the vandals who deflated dozens of bus tires last week and unplugged diesel engines in subzero weather.
While there will definitely be discipline coming from the school, including making the students pay back $4,000 in damages, no criminal charges have been filed. Meanwhile, in Naperville, police are asking for information on vandalism that caused $30,000 in damages to school bus tires.
What punishment best fits the crime for what essentially amounts to a student prank?
In Naperville, CrimeStoppers is offering a reward for information that leads to the arrest of the vandals, so it looks like criminal charges are a sure thing there. But Kaneland is still reviewing its options and trying to decide whether to pursue criminal charges. Part of the reason for the delay is that there might be seven or eight more students involved.
Should these kids be suspended, pay restitution and given community service? Expelled? Arrested? At what point does a prank become something more and warrant potentially life-changing consequences?
Administrators are in a tough spot. The property damage was relatively minor but could have been much worse. The vandalism did disrupt people's lives -- school and all activities were canceled Friday -- but no one was really injured as a result. It's likely that some of these graduating seniors are good kids who just did something incredibly stupid without thinking about the consequences.
But the students have to learn that actions do indeed have consequences. What those should be isn't an easy question to answer.
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