STUDENT SUSPENDED FROM EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES FOR SHOWING PRANK VIDEO

JACKSON -- One of seven Jackson High School students involved in a shocking videotaped prank has been suspended "from certain extracurricular activities" for showing the video in a class last spring.

The action was taken by the Jackson Board of Education Monday based on new information brought forward by a teacher. Superintendent Dr. Ron Anderson said the board and administration learned that "a few minutes" of the video were shown in a class while the teacher was out of the room.

Some students previously had told school officials that at least a few seconds of the video were seen in a different class last spring. But the teacher who was present said she did not see any of the video. Anderson investigated and said administrators could not determine whether the video was shown intentionally or not.

The new information about the video being seen in another class is not as equivocal.

"The key was it was shown," Anderson said. "There was not a question about it. For a few minutes it was shown. And the board took swift action."

He declined to describe the incident further.

Stuart Venable, whose son was the target of the prank, said a school official told the family that the boy who has been suspended removed a tape that was playing when the teacher left the room and put the video of the prank in the VCR.

The 14-minute video shows Venable's son at first lying on the ground while a masked figure operates a chain saw next to his hooded head and others wearing black and masks dancing around him. The chain saw blade had been removed.

Later, the boy is tied to a cross by his friends in a mock crucifixion. A parent of one of the boys videotaped this part of the prank.

The boys began that March 19 night by kidnapping the Venable boy at a party and binding him with tape. When he resisted, he was kicked.

The Venables pressed charges against the seven boys involved when they found out the video had been shown at a birthday party and at school. Six of the boys performed community service and received counseling for actions that would have amounted to misdemeanor assault had they been adults. The seventh boy also performed community service, received counseling and was placed on at least six months probation.

About 500 people crowded into the Sept. 14 school board meeting to discuss the schools' handling of the incident. Many of them wanted further penalties for the boy, who subsequently was suspended for three days and missed a football game. The other boys say he lied to them about having the Venables' permission to play the prank.

Some speakers also wanted the board to stiffen eligibility requirements for extracurricular activities.

Anderson said the suspension applies to "certain extracurricular activities" because unlike sports an extracurricular activity such as music is graded.

The length of the boy's suspension has not been released at the request of his family, he said.

In a press release issued Thursday, the district said a committee is being appointed to study whether more stringent eligibility standards are needed for extracurricular activities. The district currently uses the standards recommended by the Missouri State High School Activities Association.

The release says the board's action puts an end to the affair.

"The board and administration believe that all relevant information has now been presented and anticipate no further action in connection with this specific complaint of student discipline and student eligibility," the release states.

The Venables' son now is living with a relative and is attending high school in the western part of the state.