Nineteen Verona High School students are facing the music after partying on a school-sponsored trip to Costa Rica.

School officials have suspended the students after learning the students drank alcohol and some smoked marijuana during the trip earlier this month.

"It was a bit of a sordid affair," Principal Kelly Meyers said. "The preponderance of the trip was an outstanding and valuable learning experience, but it was tainted severely by a few nights of really, really poor choices. Now we're embarrassed, all of us."

Thirty-three students were on the 10-day trip that included hikes in rainforests and meeting villagers. The group belonged to a school club called the Land Rovers, which goes on regular outings. They paid for the trip out of their own pockets.

Most of the offenses took place in the students' hotel rooms on the final night of the trip, Meyers said. After word got out about the misdeeds, the school launched an investigation into what Meyers called "a very unfortunate occurrence."

The group had six adult chaperones, including five employees of the high school, which should be "quite ample," Meyers said. That the chaperones apparently didn't know what was going on means some changes in how trips are overseen in the future may be made, she said.

"You're never going to prevent things 100 percent, but there are some things you can clearly do that might increase the deterrence," Meyers said.

Some students were 18, old enough to drink alcohol in Costa Rica. But Meyers said that was irrelevant because all the students signed a contract prior to the trip affirming they understood the ground rules, which included no drinking and no drugs.

"This is a school-sponsored activity," she said. "You're under our charge. We're responsible for you."

It's not the first time Verona High School students have faced consequences after flouting the rules on trips. Just last month, two students on a school trip to Germany were sent home after only two days for violating rules of conduct.

"Kids are told over and over and over again in meetings prior to trips such as these that we're not kidding," Meyers said.

The offending students from the Costa Rica trip face disciplinary measures ranging from a five- to 15-day suspension, depending on what activities a student was involved in and his or her past history.

"I'm grateful they're all home, they're all safe, and no one got lost, hurt or worse," Meyers said. "But they made some really, really bad choices. We'll be making adjustments on our end to help prevent such a thing from happening again."