A high school salutatorian and a handful of her classmates have been banned from prom and graduation for what they claim was a ‘harmless’ prank.
About 20 seniors at University of Chicago Charter School’s Woodlawn Campus participated in the long-standing tradition of an end-of-year prank on May 6.
The prank involved ‘decorating’ the school’s main hallway with silly string, balloons, red solo cups, sticky notes, streamers, and toilet paper.
Principal Shavaughn Monson branded the prank an ‘egregious act of vandalism’ and emailed their parents a day later banning all the students from prom.
One of them was salutatorian Krystal Scott, who has a 4.2 GPA and already accepted a scholarship to study biology or math at Boston University next year.
Krystal Scott is University of Chicago Charter School’s Woodlawn Campus salutatorian with a 4.2 GPA and accepted a scholarship to study biology or math at Boston University next year
Her mother Carla Scott, who worked as UC Charter School’s Director of Admissions, said when she tried to negotiate her daughter’s punishment, she was suspended after Monson filed a misconduct complaint.
Krystal and five classmates were later banned from their graduation ceremony for briefly attending the prom after, she claimed, being told the ban was rescinded.
‘The punishment we received was very excessive, and now something I worked so hard for has been taken away from me,’ Krystal told DailyMail.com.
Krystal’s older sister Kyra Clark said the prank was harmless and similar to previous years where the seniors involved were not punished.
‘There was no excessive damage to the school or staff, and school security even permitted my sister access to the building,’ she said.
‘Considering the countless videos on platforms like TikTok showcasing truly disruptive senior pranks, it’s evident that the punishment does not fit the ‘crime’ in this case.’
Krystal and about 20 seniors at University of Chicago Charter School’s Woodlawn Campus participated in the longstanding tradition of an end-of-year prank on May 6
The prank involved ‘decorating’ the school’s main hallway with silly string, balloons, red solo cups, sticky notes, streamers, and toilet paper
Principal Shavaughn Monson branded the prank an ‘egregious act of vandalism’ and emailed their parents a day later banning all the students from prom
Krystal said she didn’t understand why Monson was coming down so hard on the prank this year, but her classmates had a theory.
‘The believe she does not like our class because we have opinions on how things should be run, and she doesn’t like to listen to them,’ she said.
‘They don’t like the truth being told to them, they think they know everything and can do whatever they want to us.’
Monson wrote in her email that ‘this decision is final and no conversations or conferences will be hosted’, but agreed to speak with parents individually after they furiously protested.
Scott said she spoke to Monson on the phone on May 9 and tried to negotiate with her to have parents pay for the cost of cleaning or have the students do community service.
‘She got offended when I told her that this school year hadn’t been that great. She said ‘that’s a dig at me’ and I said it’s not personal, she’s not running the school by herself,’ she said.
‘I told her I was going to fight this as much as I can.’
Krystal (second from right) with her mother Carla Scott (left), sister Kyra Clark (right) and other family
The next day at 5.45pm she was put on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into a misconduct complaint against her by Monson.
A HR officer later told her it was ‘regarding your conduct during a phone call on May 9 concerning discipline imposed against your child’.
Scott said HR told her on the phone that the complaint also concerned ‘a video’ but wouldn’t elaborate even at a meeting a week later.
‘They asked me point blank if I sent the video out because it went to some people on the board and maybe some staff members? I’m not sure, and I told them I didn’t,’ she said.
The video was later revealed to be an Instagram post by Monson that many parents believed was inappropriate and complained about to the school.
DailyMail.com was independently sent an edited version of the video reposted to TikTok and since then obtained the full post.
Monson was filming herself at the gym and bragging that women should ‘handcuff your broke n***as, b***hes, not that I want them’.
She then repeated the phrase ‘broke n***as’ four times in the space of less than 20 seconds.
Scott was accused of sharing this video Monson posted to Instagram of herself using language parents complained was inappropriate
Scott’s contract ends on June 30 and she is yet to receive a new one.
‘I feel like they are going to drag this out until the end of the school year and then probably not renew it, that way they don’t have to say they fired me,’ she said.
Clark said she ‘strongly believes that my mother is facing suspension as a form of retaliation for challenging an unjust decision’.
Scott claimed in the weeks that followed, some other students were able to get their prom back by doing community service or giving other social events.
Krystal claimed Monson told some of the students they were no longer banned from the prom, but ‘don’t tell anyone’.
However, Krystal and a handful of others were never given that opportunity despite repeated attempts to negotiate
The night of the prom came on May 24 at the W Hotel in downtown Chicago.
Krystal had booked a hotel room nearby with a friend and they decided to spend the evening there anyway since it was paid for.
Sometime after 9pm, she claimed she heard from a teacher and other students that the ban had been lifted.
‘We heard that they were letting people in to the prom and they didn’t care anymore because they wanted people to have fun, so anyone who could make it in time, could come,’ she said.
‘When we got there, we were welcome in, nobody turned us around, nobody said we weren’t supposed to be there – they were just happy to see you.
‘We didn’t sneak in or hide that we were there.’
Carla Scott, who has worked for the UC charter system for 12 years, said when she tried to negotiate her daughter’s punishment, she was suspended after Monson filed a misconduct complaint
Krystal’s older sister Kyra Clark said the prank was harmless and similar to previous years where the seniors involved were not punished
But the school didn’t see it that way, and allegedly suspended one of the prom coordinators for allowing the students in, and banned Krystal and the others from the graduation ceremony this Monday.
‘Your scholar still chose to show up to the Prom, a school sanctioned event that they were instructed multiple times not to attend,’ the email read.
‘Your scholar may not attend the ceremony as a graduate or attendee as their presence is prohibited.’
Krystal said she didn’t show up until almost 10pm and left well before the event finished at 11pm.
‘I wasn’t even feeling that well that night, I had a migraine, so I wasn’t even there an hour – it’s ridiculous,’ she said.
The family wasn’t told Krystal couldn’t attend graduation rehearsals, and decided to take her to one last Wednesday in case she was eventually allowed to go.
When they arrived at the Rockefeller Chapel, uniformed police officers wouldn’t even let them approach the building.
Monson was outside the graduation practice talking to some of the students but when she saw Krystal she said ‘I don’t have anything to say to her’.
‘She’s you salutatorian, what do you mean you don’t have anything to say to her?’ Scott fumed.
‘You’re not even open to listening? She wanted to apologize and ask if there was anything she could do.
‘How do you as a black woman talk to a young black lady like that? She’s so thoroughly disgusted because Krystal made a few mistakes? Kids are going to do that.
‘What she’s doing is wrong, this is a time in these young people’s lives they will never forget, and these are your star students.’
Scott said she felt like Monson had it out for her daughter and was ‘dead-set against her participating in anything’ because they clashed over the school year.
‘It feels personal, not just to me but my daughter… they’re trying to make an example of her,’ she said.
Carla said she felt the school was trying to make an example of her daughter
Krystal was due to give a speech on ‘turning your struggles into positives’ but the salutatorian address will instead be omitted from the ceremony.
University of Chicago public affairs director Gerald McSwiggan said the school disputed the family’s version of events, but provided few specific responses.
‘Unfortunately, we had an incident during which students caused significant damage to UCCS property,’ he said.
‘We take such incidents seriously and have administered discipline to students consistent with our policies.
‘We are grateful to our UCCS staff who attempted to stop the destruction and to the UCCS staff who had to remediate the damage that was done.’
McSwiggan was also asked if the school had retaliated against Scott’s advocacy for her daughter, and about the school using police to prevent Krystal from attending the rehearsal.
‘Retaliation is prohibited by UChicago Charter School policy,’ he said.
‘As part of our typical processes, University of Chicago Police Department officers are present at major UChicago Charter School events, and UCPD officers routinely patrol the UChicago campus.’
The Woodlawn campus has endured a year of poor results, falling grades and test scores, and scandal involving fired teachers.
US News and World Report gave the school a college readiness score of only a 14.8 out of 100, and noted only 7 per cent of students passed at least on AP exam.
The school was in January sued after a special needs teacher and aide berated and cursed at a 14-year-old boy, then assaulted him in front of classmates.
Both denied the December 2022 incident until shocking video filmed by a classmate was posted online and they were both fired and the aide convicted of battery.