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As end-of-the-school-year pranks go, it could've been worse, says Box Elder County School District transportation chief Jean Cannon.
Still, the teenagers believed responsible for letting the air out of tires on 18 school buses Wednesday may find their egos are the next things to be deflated.
"They let the air out of one front tire on each of the buses overnight. That ended up delaying a lot of students up to 20 to 25 minutes getting to school," Cannon said. "And there was some damage and the costs associated with handling this."
Fourteen of the flat tires were discovered at the district's bus yard in Tremonton about 6:30 a.m. Four buses parked at other locations also were found with flats, Cannon said.
Dozens of students initially left stranded were picked up by other buses as their normal routes were extended.
"It wasn't as bad as everybody was making it out to be at first. At least the tires weren't slashed," Cannon said. Still, the prank caused considerable aggravation — and there will be consequences.
"The police are looking into it and are pretty sure about who was involved," she said.
Tremonton police did not immediately return a call Wednesday, but Cannon said she understood "they pretty much know who did this."
Cannon said she was crossing her fingers that the prank was not repeated on Thursday, the last day of the school year.