Three teenage girls from Paterson have been arrested on arson charges after they allegedly set minor fires at their high school, apparently to protest longer class periods, police said today.

The three students at John F. Kennedy High School - who are 15 and 16 years old - were taken into custody on Monday, Paterson police spokesman Lt. Anthony Traina said tonight.

The girls are accused of placing burning toilet paper on fire alarms and pulling the alarms at about 10 a.m. Monday, setting off the alarms and causing fellow students to be evacuated, Traina said.

Their fellow students were returned to classes shortly afterward, but the girls were arrested. They were also charged with causing a public alarm, and taken to the Passaic County Juvenile Detention Center in Haledon.

Their names were withheld by police because of their ages.

Police suspect the motive for the fires was unhappiness over longer class periods, which have been lengthened from 45 to 90 minutes, Traina said.

Read the full story in Wednesday's Star-Ledger.