MADISON, Wis. -- Two Madison West High School students have been suspended and are facing criminal charges after allegedly creating a bomb scare twice -- once on Monday and on Halloween.

A 17-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl allegedly just wanted to play a practical joke, but the school's officials said they don't think it’s a laughing matter and are sending a strong message.

"We can't have students making those kinds of threats. We will have to take those kinds of threats very seriously. There will be consequences both from the school district and from the criminal justice system," said Ed Holmes, principal at West High School. "One student not wanting to go to class shouldn't impact on over 2,000 people in a school community."

On Halloween, students were evacuated for an hour after officials found two handwritten letters in the bathrooms, which said there was a bomb in West High School.

Parents were immediately notified of the threat by phone, via pre-recorded message.

"I think the notification was good because it cleared up some questions," said Bruce Erdmann, the father of two students at West.

When another threatening letter was found last Monday, officials turned to students to find the culprits, offering a $500 cash reward.

"It was one student that came forward with information that led to identifying the students that made the bomb threat," Holmes said.

Those students are now facing expulsion, WISC-TV reported.

Parents WISC-TV spoke with said they like knowing the school is cracking down.

"Especially in this day and age, it's something that is much more serious than it has been in the past and it should be taken seriously and addressed seriously," Erdmann said.

Parent Barbara Emmerich, who has two juniors at West, agreed.

"There are kids that think they can get away with harassing people and that needs to be nipped in the bud," he said.

The two West High students will be formally charged by the district attorney, WISC-TV reported.

A letter from the school district went out to all Madison schools Friday. The letter, which will eventually come home to parents, explains both bomb scares at West.

A WISC-TV investigation showed that West High School leads the school district in number of bomb threats.

Since 2002, 20 bomb threats have been made at West, compared to eight at East High, six at Lafollette and none at Memorial.

School district officials said that kids don't realize how serious a false threat is.

"It really causes great harm to students. It puts students at risk, and it's simply not a wise thing to do," said Luis Yudice, safety and security coordinator for the Madison Metropolitan School District.

NOTE: It is the policy of WISC-TV and Channel 3000 not to cover bomb threats because doing so often encourages more false threats. However, WISC-TV and Channel felt this cases merited coverage as a warning to students and parents.