Senior pranks can go many ways, but the 2024 seniors of Fairhope High School may have taken it too far.

Gulf Coast Media received several phone calls Friday morning from parents calling concerned their children may not walk at graduation due to a senior prank gone wrong.

At 7:20 a.m., the parents of all FHS seniors received a recorded message from Principal John Cardwell. In the message, he asked parents to wake up and send their seniors to school because "what they did last night went beyond a prank and turned into vandalism."

Cardwell went on to say he would be watching the surveillance footage and if "I see a kid who did it and he's not up here cleaning, we're going to talk about graduation."

In the message, he did not disclose what the seniors did at the school, but he did say that in his 12 years as principal, he had never something happen at the school of this nature.

Rumors have swirled around social media about expulsions, students not being allowed to walk at graduation and students who were exempt from finals being required to come to school next week and take the tests. The rumors so far have been dispelled by the district.

Gulf Coast Media attempted to reach Cardwell but did not hear back by press time. According to Chasity Riddick, Baldwin County Board of Education's communications coordinator, there were senior pranks last week at high schools across the county, including Fairhope.

"This is something that happens every year, and unfortunately sometimes the students can go too far," Riddick said in an email. "I have not seen any pictures from Fairhope, and it would be up to the principal to decide what is 'too far' and if a student receives punishment. If a student is punished with school sanctions, we would not be allowed to talk about it."

As of 1 p.m. Friday, Riddick said there had been no levels of discipline given and no changes to graduation or graduation events at Fairhope High School.

At 3:21 p.m., Cardwell sent senior parents an email stating:

"180 seniors took what was supposed to be an innocent prank in my office and turned it into very poor decision-making. Seniors cleaned all morning. Even kids who weren't involved. Now that is character."

According to U.S. News Best High School ranking data, the senior class has 392 students, of a total 1,611-student population.

According to the email, seniors who participated in the prank signed up for a two-hour shift Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday to deep clean the school. A rough estimation of having a professional cleaning company would cost around $25,000 with the square footage involved.

Cardwell said that as the surveillance footage is reviewed, some students could have different duties and consequences.

Much to the relief of worried seniors and parents the senior picnic, breakfast and cap and gown pickup as well as graduation will continue as originally scheduled.

"I had to do some soul searching throughout the day. I always preach to these kids that character isn't just what you do on the front end, but, most importantly, what you do after a mistake or bad decision," Cardwell said in the email. "There are the best kids in the world who made a very poor choice in a mob mentality. We used it as a teaching moment, and, oddly enough, it brought more positives than negatives. It taught accountability, forgiveness and grace. We will all learn from this mistake."

Friday evening, a Gulf Coast Media reader emailed two photos of the prank's damage inside the school. Other photos were posted in the comments of Gulf Coast Media's social media post of the initial article as it was shared in other Facebook groups. Gulf Coast Media has not received any official information from the district on the damage, but sources say peanut butter was placed in the classroom of a teacher who has a peanut allergy, books were destroyed, silly string was sprayed on walls resulting in the paint being removed, hundreds of crickets were set loose, sardines were placed throughout the school and bathrooms were flooded.

Cardwell said there would be no future senior pranks allowed or law enforcement would get involved.