Dozens of parents, students and school staff members helped cleaned up the school.

ROCKLAND (AP) – The school board will meet Thursday night to determine how Rockland District High School seniors who vandalized the school the day before graduation should be punished.

Fourteen seniors weren’t allowed to participate in their graduation ceremony Tuesday night after school officials determined the students had gone on a vandalism spree described as a prank gone bad.

The high school had to cancel classes Tuesday because of damage caused by students who entered the building early Tuesday morning and sprayed fire extinguishers and shaving cream throughout the school.

Rockland Deputy Police Chief Wally Tower said the powdery substance emitted by the extinguishers covered more than 75 percent of the school, including walls, hallways, desks, lockers and computers.

Rockland police and school officials identified 23 seniors who were involved, 14 of whom were excluded from the graduation ceremony.

Donald Kanicki, superintendent of School Administrative District 5, said those students will receive their diplomas because they have met the district’s graduation requirements, but they may be required to do community service first.

The remaining nine seniors were allowed to participate in the graduation, but they could be forced to pay restitution to the school district or the community. The district’s Board of Directors will meet Thursday to decide how the students should be punished.

“It’s a group of good kids who made a bad decision,” Kanicki said. “It was intended as a prank. I don’t think they planned for any of this to happen.”

When word got out about the vandalism, dozens of parents, students and school staff members helped cleaned up the school to ensure that the graduation ceremony would go on as planned.

“I’m all for a little fun, but these students took it too far,” said Liza Pinkham, 18, of South Thomaston, the senior class president. “There are a lot of disappointed people. I don’t know if graduation meant a whole lot to these kids, but it does to me.”

Some of the students could also face criminal charges.

District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau said that once he has received the full police report he will determine whether he will charge students with burglary, a felony punishable by as much as five years in prison, or the misdemeanor charges of criminal trespassing and criminal mischief, punishable by as much as a year in prison, fines or probation.

“We’ll need to first evaluate the police report, but yes, some of the charges could be serious or not all that serious,” Rushlau said. “From everything I’ve heard, it sounds like a very foolish act.”