Sullivan County Deputies Investigate Vandalism At An Area High School
Sullivan Central High School administrators arrived to school Wednesday to find lockers, locks and walls vandalized.
Sullivan County investigators said sometime during the night of Thursday, May 15th and the early morning hours of Friday, May 16th, the suspects entered Sullivan Central High School where they damaged several lockers and spray-painted the walls.
Investigators added that concrete was used to vandalize several locks and lockers throughout the school.
Deputies believe the suspects got into the school by pulling open an unlocked classroom window on the front side of the school.
Four Sullivan Central students were implicated by statements and / or video evidence and were released to the custody of a parent.
Charges are pending against three adult students and one juvenile male student, all who are seniors at the high school.
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Reader Reactions
David Ward understood that it was just a senior prank. A PRANK! The problems were EASILY fixed. They fixed ALL of the problems in three hours! Why the heck should they be punished for years and years and years for a problem that was fixed in three hours? I am angered at them, however, because of the fact that the prank had happened we didnt have our senior lunch or our senior baloon fight after school. The fact that they will forever have this mark on them because of this temporary problem is ludicrous! These guys were not trouble-makers. Well one of them was on probation. He will be in the most trouble but the other three were good kids! I’m so fed up with these adults who think that our generation is messed up when in the long run it will be OUR minds and knowledge that will keep the ones fussing and moaning alive alot longer than they expected. The grafiti was painted over and the cement was not dried! It came off with water! How about you get the whole story before you sit there and tell me that Melanie Riden is justified in her decision. She IS over-reacting and I can’t look at it from the outside because I AM on the inside. I know the whole story so think before you open your mouth, mam. Thank you.
oh and your not acting immature by coming on here and “slamming” these kids. kids that you do not personally know? because if you knew these kids you would know that they are not trouble makers at all, they made a mistake. one mistake that now will be carried on with them for the rest of their life.
Well, you are being very immature yourself by coming on here and slamming the principal like you have. If you were a “mature adult”, I think you would look at it from the outside, As I am, and see that Mrs. Riden is doing nothing wrong here. She is shaping this junk school up. Yes David Ward let a lot of things go that he shouldn’t have back a few years ago, but that is exactly the reason this school has went to hell in a hand basket. As of last year, I wouldn’t send my kids to Sullivan Central for any amount of money. Now I would at least consider it. Senior graffiti has NOT been a tradition by any means just because 5 of the 40 senior classes decided to vandalize the school as their senior prank. Our class senior prank was harmless, non-vandal, stealing the phones from classrooms so the teachers had no form of communication amongst themselves. Simple. All administration had to do was find the unharmed phones and put them where they belong. I believe Mr. Ward awarded most of the seniors from the incident a couple days of ISS. Had there been graffitti, which there was the year before, he would have called the police and as I do recall, FBI did come to take pictures and gather evidence the year graffitti was used on the dome and outside of the building. Never before have students broken into the school and caused extended damage indoors. Your class took it too far by “breaking and entering” and vandalizing indoors, and that’s that.
I am sure that Mrs. Riden is NOT recieving punishment by taking a head administrative position such as principal of a high school. If she was so horrible, Science Hill would have given her a bad reference, and she would not have her job now as principal at Sullivan Central. You are a student there and you miss the freedom and no rules system Mr. Ward carried. Now that someone is turning the place around by making the students become something of themselves, you all don’t like it. In a few years you will understand.
You ask if I had to do it over again, would I go back and vandalize my school? The answer would be NO. I didn’t because I didn’t want a record for the rest of my life over some stupid senior prank and those boys should have thought about that before they broke in and spray painted the school. What kind of example are you boys setting for future senior classes? So I suppose Mrs. Riden should just let them off the hook so it can happen again and again with future senior classes. Or the future classes will think, “No I better not vandalize the school because I will be in jail and not able to graduate like those boys from the class of 2008.“ Mrs. Riden may be a little harsh in punishment, but at this point, that is what Sullivan Central desparately needs!!!!!!
Ok well is I remember correctly 3 years ago 4-6 guys got on the roof of Sullivan Central on the ROOF and wrote “HELL YEAH SENIORS” They still got to take there exams. They still got to graduate. David Ward understood that the senior class of any high school wants to go out big. One more thing. I’m not gonna lie. Two of the four guys are my friends but I’m not standing up for them for the fact of them being my friends. From my understanding, the students got in through a window of the school which was left unlocked by one of the teachers knowing full well of what would take place that night. They got into to school and initiated the senior prank. To this day, if you visit Sullivan Central High School you will STILL see grafiti from 1980! The senior grafiti has been a tradition. The guys just added one minor detail which was the cement on the locks. I do agree. The cement was a HORRIBLE idea and a poor lack of judgement but think back to when you were a senior. Do you really think if you didn’t have the chance to go back and do something outragous like them, would you? To be completely honest, Sullivan Central students have always had a don’t care attitude. I have one just as much as the next one but this prank is just proving this. David Ward understood. That’s why the 07 graduates got off without jail time! Melanie Riden isn’t all just a perfect angel. Ask a Science Hill Student WHY she had to transfer. You’ll find out a nice little story or two. If you wanna sit here and judge charecter then lets here but don’t only put down the so called “felons” you refer to. Lets look at the WHOLE picture. It did not cost SCDE THOUSANDS of dollars to fix. Hundreds MAYBE but not THOUSANDS. It was cement that was not dry and spray paint that was just painted over. It took the SCDE maintance guys three hours to fix most of the damage. Punishment is needed I do agree but not to the fullest extent of the law. These are 18 and 17 year old guys. Two are amazing athletes and just because one principal who also doesnt make right decisions thinks they shouldnt graduate over a wrong decision and strips them of there future. Melanie Riden had made a worse mistake a science hill and the biggest punishment she was given was the transfer to Sullivan Central. Now doesn’t that sound a little like the pot calling the kettle black? I am also a graduate of the 2008 class and what I see is Riden is clearly over-reacting. If these 4 guys should be punished to the fullest extent shouldn’t EVERYBODY? It was a PRANK! Tennessee High’s prank wasn’t too much better. Pretty close to vandalism but not enough to have cuffs slung on there wrists. During my four years at Central I have seen so much bias against us. Dobynns Bennet mostly. I see wow those DB students are really well mannered. Go to a DB Central basketball game and take a drive to Carolina Pottery. See which students arrive first for a brawl. DB or Central? So you know what? After you read this think about it. Think long and hard about whats about to happen to these boys and compare it to the consequences that Riden had to pay or the 06 graduates had to pay. You will see this is all a huge over-reaction. The damage has been repaired but do you think a permanent problem causing punishment should be given to kids who cause a easily fixed mistake? I promise you go to SCHS TOMORROW and you will not see a mark of grafiti on the walls or a speck of cement anywhere, but if the charges are pressed there will be a huge mark there forever. All because of Melanie Ridens reaction. So if you’re one of these kid hating adults who think teenagers are the lowest of the low then you just think about your past when you were a teenager. Were you much better? Thanks.
Yes, so I suppose this is all the principal’s fault that these boys lost their scholarships and failed their exams. She is the one who thought this whole vandalism plan through. She is the one that bought cement and spray painted everything. The principal is the one at fault here. Sure. The boys should have minded their own business or thought of a HARMLESS senior prank that wouldn’t cause thousands of dollars in damage or cause Sullivan County maintance workers time and money. Please! You people taking up for these guys are obviously the vandelizers best friends or the vandals themselves. The principal has every right to press FULL charges!!!! I don’t blame her!! I know just exactly how it has been at Sullivan Central High School over the past decade because I am a former student there! This new principal is turning the h*llhole of a school around! She is getting rid of the thugs, drugs, and losers, and turning the school into something positive. Parents should feel blessed to have new administration that actually cares about the future of the students that graduate from the school!!! She is doing these boys a favor by not letting them off the hook and showing the other students that the school and administration is not going to take this crap anymore! The boys should have thought ahead about their scholarships. I know I would have.
Oh and last time I checked permanent spray paint does not just come off with water and a rag. Sorry.
first of all whoever said it was over 21000 dollars worth of damage, is ridiculous. the cement was not even wet so all they did was use a pressure washer and it came right off.. second the spraypain could have came off with water and a rag but the princible took it way out of proportion and painted over it so the kids who did it had to pay more. she could have just told the kids who did it to clean it up and it would have been done with, but now she is sending 3 kids to jail, 2 of them losing their sports scholarships and another kid to JCDC, and causing hime not to pass since he cannot take the exams. The princible is just trying to set an example by ruining the kids lives
i think they carried the prank way.. toooo far.. they deserve there punishment!!! and im glad they are in big trouble. HELLO its called vandalism
your a idiot if you dont know that.
it would be different if they didn’t tear up the place? i mean come on they are basicly adults. But they didn’t make an adult decision! if they are going to act like that now think what would happen ten years from now?
they could vandalise someones house or home? What are kids thinking these days? who knows?
I do not think the principal is taking this too far at all. These boys should not have taken this “prank” so far. It is one thing to do a “harmless” senior prank, but to cause $21,000 (yes THOUSANDS) in damage, that deserves large punishment. They will probably get off with only probation or community service. Put yourself in the principal’s shoes. If some boys broke into your home and caused thousands of dollars in damage, you would be singing a different tune. I am young and just out of high school, but I know that there is a fine line between senior prank and extreme vandalism.
I know the boys should not have done this, but it was a Senior Prank. It was not done to hurt anyone. It was done for laughs. The principle is taking this a little to far. It is unfair to make them out as common criminals, which they are not. I think the punishment should be more on the lines of community service, which would be to clean up the mess they made and anything else the school needs done.
Remember when you were 18 years old, did you also use good judgement????????
Think about people!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know that the boys shouldnt have done this but the seniors have done this every year for years now,I think the principle is trying to make an example of these boys just as she has done all year.Is it fair to ruin 3 18 year old boys lives for a senoir prank?Yes they should be punished but not for the rest of thier lives!
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