Dec 4, 2015 By Suzanne Elliott 2 min read

Peters Township police have decided not to charge the four male juveniles who confessed to spray painting a deer carcass and leaving it where at the high school where district teachers had been picketing.

Instead, police have turned the matter over to the state Game Commission, which could fine the youths, all of whom are either 16 or 17 and reside in the township. The fine for the summary offense is set by the magistrate and could vary between $100 to $200, said Dan Sitler, wildlife conservation officer with the game commission.

The juveniles, who were identified through video surveillance and other methods, apparently found and spray painted a female deer carcass and left it last month by the entrance of Peters Township High School. The animal, discovered by the school custodian, had been spray painted blue with the initials PT. Police suspected the deer had been killed by a vehicle because rigor mortis had set in and it had begun to emit an odor.

“It is a permit violation,” Sitler said of the desecrated carcass.

Peters Township teachers, who had been working without a contract since the start of school, returned to their classrooms Nov. 27, following a 21-day strike. Since the teachers and the district could not agree on a new contract, the impasse will now be decided by final best offer nonbinding arbitration. Because the arbitration is nonbinding, both sides can reject it. This, in turn, means there could be a second teacher work stoppage, possibly in the spring.