A school has shut down its classes after a prank left officials battling with the aftermath.

There’s nothing quite like a funny high school prank, but usually they don’t involve police.

We’ve all been there, and as a senior, it’s only natural that you’d want to end your time at school on a high.

However, pranksters at South River High School might have bitten off more than they can chew, as a criminal case could be lodged against them.

A New Jersey high school has been left in chaos, forcing school officials to call off classes for the day because of a prank that went ‘too far’.

New Jersey seniors caused chaos (ABC)

According to WABC, the seniors trashed their school common areas and classrooms by rearranging furniture, covering hallways in toilet paper, taking all of the equipment out of the basketball gym and more.

School officials shared that the Thursday mischief was anything by harmless, and they are certainly not happy about it.

“Nothing was broken. Nothing was stolen. But tables were moved, desks were moved out of classrooms, equipment was moved out of the gym,” South River Mayor Peter Guindi told the outlet at the time.

“Listen, we were all kids at one time, I mean, we have all done our share of mischief. This kind of went too far,” he added.

The vandalism has been considered a ‘criminal mischief incident’ led to the school being delayed to ringing the opening bell at school 90 minutes later, and eventually they decided to call the whole thing off.

An investigation has now been launched by the South River Police Department.

What the seniors did almost seemed like child’s play compared to a 2022 prank.

A criminal investigation has been launched (ABC)

A school in Texas closed early for summer after a student prank got out of hand and ended up costing thousands in damages at one point.

Officials from Memorial High School in Frisco originally allowed the prank to go ahead after it was supposed to involve a bunch of Post-it notes stuck around the building.

But things took a turn and videos on TikTok showing students trashing the place, setting off fire extinguishers and covering up CCTV cameras caught just how bad things got.

Emergency services were eventually called to help the situation, but the school later had to conduct a cleanup operation estimated to cost thousands of dollars.

In a letter to parents obtained by Fox4, Memorial’s administrators wrote: “A small group of students from Memorial High School was approved to use Post-it notes on the walls to decorate and place messages around the campus as part of their senior prank last night.

“Staff members were on-site to monitor students, but the situation devolved rapidly, and the Frisco Police and Fire Departments became involved. Students vandalized the campus to a point that classes are not able to be held at MHS for the remainder of the week.”

The letter added: “Damage is estimated in the thousands of dollars and includes paint on the walls, destruction of furniture, discharged fire extinguishers throughout campus and more.”

If you were paid to go to school, your attendance might go up a fair bit.

Well, that’s what this program hopes for.

Most people spend the first 18 years of their life in education. While it is normal as can be, it can prove to be quite draining and some days students struggle to find the motivation to even show up.

Well, a pilot group of Oakland Unified School District students in California have been getting $50 a week to go to school… but like all things there is a bit of a catch.

The 10-week program is being run by a group known as the Equitable Design Project and it has 100 students across seven school sites enrolled in it.

A group of Oakland Unified School District students have been getting $50 a week to go to school. (Getty Stock Image)

But if students want to get the money they’ll have to attend class five days a week and can’t be late or skip any. If they do, they’ll miss out on the dollar.

As well as this students must meet with a program leader each week as well as complete short mental health and experience in the classroom assessment every week.

This program isn’t exactly new and has been in affect for the last two years and operates for the final 10 weeks of the school year for high schoolers.

The students that had been signed up to the program had quite a reputation and record of severe absenteeism, with many of them being unhoused or having unstable living conditions.

According to San Francisco Chronicle, Zaia Vera, a leader of the project and the head of social emotional learning at Oakland Unified, explained that the program was aimed to help these students and create good relationships to ensure they get a full education.

The school district said absenteeism has since been cut by half. (Getty Stock Image)

Vera said: “The money is a hook that gets them into school. It’s the relationships, it’s being valued that keeps the students in school.”

Kevin ‘AJ’ Goines, who helps high schoolers navigate academics, attendance and social emotional growth in Oakland Unified also explained how the money was expected to keep the students geared towards their studies and in the classroom.

He said: “There’s some families and students where there are huge barriers that are causing their truancy.

“[They would say] ‘I don’t have money for the bus’ or in some cases, ‘I don’t have a proper jacket, and it’s cold and it’s raining’.

“Those were the things that we just didn’t have answers for.”

Following two years of trying out the program, the school district claimed absenteeism has been cut by half.

The program uses funds from a $200,000 grant from Education First, a national education policy organization, with financing from the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and the NoVo Foundation.

Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault which some readers may find distressing.

A teacher in New Jersey has been arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault of one of her former students.

Laura Caron, 34, has been charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault, second-degree sexual assault, and second-degree endangerment to the welfare of a child.

The Cape May County Prosecutors Office confirmed in a Facebook post on Wednesday (January 15) that she had been arrested and taken into custody without incident.

The press report further said: “The charges stem from an investigation revealing that between 2016 and 2020, Ms Caron engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student, born in 2005, who had been residing in her home during that time.”

The teacher allegedly abused the victim for years (Cape May County Correctional Center)

According to authorities, Caron is alleged to have abused the student from the age of 11 through to 15-years-old, with investigators further claiming that she began an abusive relationship with him when teaching him and his brother in the fifth grade.

When he was 13, a then 28-year-old Caron allegedly became pregnant with his child when he was living with her, The Independent reports.

Investigators say the victim’s father took to social media in December last year to share his belief that his son and Caron’s 5-year-old child, who was born in 2019, bore an uncanny resemblance.

In court documents, authorities revealed that the alleged victim’s family became friends with Caron and started allowing their children to stay with her every week before this progressed to them living permanently with the suspect, ABC News reports.

Authorities allege she had a child with the victim (Cape May County Correctional Center)

He then reportedly told his sister in a text message that he had allegedly been abused by Caron and fathered a child. He also reiterated this story to the police when questioned.

If convicted of sexual assault, Caron could face imprisonment of 10 to 20 years, while the other two charges could result in an additional five to 10 years.

Prosecutor Jeffrey Sutherland has issued a statement on Caron’s charges, who was a teacher at Middle Township Elementary School.

He said: “This arrest underscores the unwavering commitment of our office and law enforcement partners to protect the children in our community. Teachers hold a position of great trust, and the allegations in this case represent a deeply troubling breach of that trust.

“We will work tirelessly to ensure justice is served and to support the victim and their family throughout this process.”

According to The Independent, The Middle Township School District is cooperating with officials and is offering counselling to any affected by the news, as superintendent David Salvo said: “When the district was first advised of the allegations, the staff member was immediately placed on and continues to be on paid administrative leave.

“Additional questions should be directed to the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office.”

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 8am–10pm Monday to Friday, 9am–6pm weekends. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111

A Gen-X student has had more than $112,000 of student loans forgiven as part of a government programme to alleviate student loans.

Sheila Reed attended Westwood College, a private for-profit school which she hoped would help her back into higher education.

Previously, Sheila had dropped out of higher education after high school, and was intrigued to see if the programme at Westwood would help her to get into college.

But despite graduating with a bachelor’s degree Sheila said she has never been able to use her degree.

She said that she was repeatedly informed that the education would help her to land a job in law enforcement, but was never able to secure a job.

Speaking to Business Insider, she said: “It was hell. It was really rough. I didn’t think I would ever, ever get rid of it. It was depressing at times.

“I can’t get into the field I want to get in. And so I felt like I just wasted my time and wasted what money I had.”

Sheila Reed had $112k of student debt forgiven. (Sheila Reed via Business Insider)

Westwood shut down in 2016, and a report from the Education Department since claimed that the school had ‘routinely misled’ would-be students that attending ‘would benefit their career prospects and earning potential.’

Sheila found herself saddled with debt so deep she found herself sometimes unable to make payments at all.

However, she had a shock when an unexpected letter arrived saying that all of her debt had been forgiven.

She said: “I was floored. I almost passed out. I kept rereading it and checking who the sender was to confirm it wasn’t a scam. I really couldn’t believe it.”

The debt was forgiven as part of a policy that allows for student debts to be forgiven if the institution the student attended is found guilty of fraud.

Sheila found she was eligible for her loan to be forgiven. (BrianAJackson / Getty)

Sheila did not even have to file a report herself as she was deemed to be part of a cohort eligible for their debt to be forgiven.

Now, although she is proud of her achievement, Sheila is still regretful that her degree turned out to be ‘worthless’.

She said: “Even though it turned out to be a worthless piece of paper, I’m so proud of myself that I graduated, and I graduated with honors, and I did learn a lot about the different law enforcement fields and prison systems and everything.”

She added: “So, in that respect, I don’t regret it. But financially, I do, and I’m just glad it’s over.”