Florence Gym Flooded by Prank, Incident Considered a Crime

Students at Florence school used to eat at a cafeteria located in the old gym, but after a two students stuffed a wig and some paper towels into a toilet on Saturday, the entire lunchroom has been displaced. Interim Superintendent Bud Skully told KGVO reporter Jon King what happened:

"They went into one of the bathrooms, stuffed some items into the toilet, and flushed it, then left," Skully said. "The toilet continued to run for about 24 hours. Since then, because it's a gym, gyms have floating floors so there's water under gym floors, so we had to call in a restoration company to dry out the floor."

The lack of a gym has also led to the cancellation of a few volleyball games. The costs of restoration are expected to total over $1,500. Skully said the incident is no longer just a prank.

"What they deemed to be a prank actually turned into a criminal act," Skully said. "They were turned over to the Ravalli County Sheriff and the middle-high school principal and will be processed for that. Pranks are no longer pranks when damage happens to property or people get hurt."

Skully said the gym will likely remain closed for normal use for another 14 days.