A Rampart High School student was denied the use of faith-based imagery on a painted senior parking spot in August of this school year. In correspondence, a statement from Academy District 20 was released on Tuesday, Oct. 28, creating uniform guidelines for all spots and further allowing faith-based spots across all District 20 schools.
The new guidelines were in part because of action towards the district by Rampart senior Sophia Schumaker in union with First Liberty Institute, claiming that the disallowment went against her First Amendment rights.
Schumaker’s design included a shepherd, a staff, a sheep and the text of 1 Corinthians 13:4. According to Rampart High School, at the time the parking spots were painted, the symbols and Bible verse were against the school’s parking lot policy.
It was stated in Rampart’s parking lot contract that “offensive, negative, rude, gang-related, political, religious, or trademarked images” were prohibited. This printed policy was sent out to all Rampart students before painting the spot and required a student signature and administrative approval to be put into action. Schumaker argued that many other schools throughout the district allowed parking spots that went against this rule, including Liberty High School.
The tradition of claiming a parking space is popular among seniors throughout the country, including District 20. Both Liberty High School and Rampart High School have added the tradition in the last decade for students to pay a fee to reserve spots for their cars and produce an artistic expression for their peers to see.
In the Liberty parking lot, there are over two dozen students who have chosen to incorporate some form of religious-based representation in their design, such as Bible verses, symbols and religious statements.
For Liberty senior Savannah Harvey her parking spot meant a deeper connection to her beliefs: “Believing in a God has been my testimony since I was little, and I wanted to dedicate my senior year to what God wants me to make it and so having that on my parking spot was a simple way to represent that I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.”
Liberty administration, similarly to Rampart, also had a say over whether or not students designed could be put on pavement. Senior Isabelle Roberts painted Romans 12:12 as a replacement for the “flavor” on her Redbull-themed parking spot.
Roberts explained, “I was not informed about any sort of policy… I turned in my design, and they never said anything about religious messages.”
Similarly, senior Hunter Anderson noted how he got direct permission for his design that incorporated a Bible verse.
Students have additionally expressed their concerns about how the transfer of policies could affect them. Anderson said, “I think as students and specifically seniors, we should have the right to express our faith because it’s not just us expressing our faith, but it’s expressing ourselves.”
Harvey shared similar thoughts: “As long as it’s appropriate and positive, religious messages should be allowed, and even encouraged if somebody feels called to do that. I often feel uncomfortable with the songs that are played at dances and at school events, and the amount of cussing that happens at school, so I try to avoid that. And so, if somebody is offended by the religious phrase that is on my parking spot, then they can try to avoid something like that, just like I try to avoid the negativity of cussing and popular music.”
The guidelines sent out to students and families in the district apply to all schools and students in Academy District 20.
Reflecting on the policies, Roberts said, “I think that they should just be consistent in whatever rules they make and that they should allow students to reflect their beliefs in a peaceful and respectful way. If it’s not a problem, why make it one kind of thing?”
The revisions to the policies include rules detailing the ban of offensive, language, pictures or symbols, negative or rude language, ‘gang-style tagging,’ double meanings, alcohol, tobacco, drug and weapons symbols/words/paraphilia, mention of other schools, images that are trademarked or subjected to copyright and names of other students (nicknames must be approved). The guideline also states that “schools will continue to review designs for practical items like safety, visibility, numbering, and traffic markings.”
Along with the new policy, the district is allowing seniors who have either already painted parking spots or who missed the chance to paint due to a break in the former policy to attend repaint dates and update their spots to include the designs they want. The district stated,” Our goal is simple: support student expression while keeping campuses positive, safe, and welcoming for everyone.”
