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Harwich students sent home after some fall ill while cleaning up prank

HARWICH, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Students at Harwich High School were sent home early Friday after some fell ill while cleaning up after a senior prank.

Students showed up to school Friday to find the graffiti. The walls, doors, floors and ceilings at the high school were covered from top to bottom in spray paint. It was part of a prank the seniors pulled Thursday night. One student said the "blue spray paint of like people's names and like seniors 2014."

Senior Scott Doncaster took part in the prank and says it was all meant in good fun.

"It was just a little senior prank. Went into the school and we exceeded our limits," he said.

But Friday morning things went much farther than planned. A handful of seniors were cleaning the graffiti when the fire department says a custodian gave them a cleaning solution that made several kids feel sick. About 5 or 6 were checked out and approximately 10 were sent home. School was canceled for everyone around noon Friday.

"It smelled really bad and everyone started getting bad headaches and feeling nauseous," Karley Marchese said.

She was one of the few students who went home sick before school let out.

Despite the fact school was canceled, some parents say they don't think it's a big deal.

"2014 they're proud of their graduating year, I get it,” one parent said.

While others say they don't really know what to make of it.

When asked if she thinks the students should be punished, one parent said, "I'm not really sure, yes and no. Still kind of weighing my feelings on it. Some of the stuff shouldn't have been done," another parent said.

But the seniors are owning up to it. They'll be back at school getting their hands dirty again this weekend, but this time to clean up the mess they made.

And the seniors say a senior prank is a yearly tradition, but thought they could get away with a little more this year because their school is getting demolished this summer.