A judge made a key ruling in the dispute over a senior prank at a Brentwood school early Tuesday evening, ending a long day of drama at the courthouse that left dozens of students and their parents disappointed and distraught.

There were two different hearings earlier Tuesday where the judge heard arguments for and against lifting the suspensions that were handed out as punishment for the prank at Heritage High school a few nights before.

Late Thursday night, a group of seniors allegedly covered their feet with paint and walked along a sidewalk on campus. It was supposed to be a symbol of their footsteps left behind.

However, administrators said the prank then reeled out of control ending with a chained up sheep being left behind, banners stolen, property damaged and obscene stickers being placed on buildings.

While a group of students worked with maintenance crews over the weekend to clean up the campus damage, administrators were greeted by new vandalism early Monday.

“This crossed the line,” Heritage High Principal Larry Oshodi told KTVU. “This went from a little prank to vandalism.”

The school suspended an estimated 40 seniors, endangering their chances of graduating, and 12 of those students banded together to challenge their punishment in court.

Outside the courthouse Tuesday, a lawyer explained to his 12 clients that their suspensions would not be lifted, but their transcripts would be placed on hold until they were able to make up any exams that they missed until after another hearing the following week.

Initially students were suspended off campus for five days, but Tuesday morning the school district relented and allowed the punished students to serve theirs suspensions on campus and take final exams Wednesday and Thursday.

Additionally, if their teachers agree, some students will be allowed to retake missed finals.

However, they still won't be able to take part in graduation ceremonies.

The superintendent says most of the seniors had good enough grades that they will still graduate, even after missing their finals.  But they would not have the GPA they had expected.