KELLER, Texas — After instructing at least two students to repaint or remove their pro-Trump senior parking spaces for the year, the Keller Independent School District has told the pair that they can retain their artwork, a district spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Now is the time for seniors within Keller ISD to cough up nearly $200 for a reserved space. They're allowed to paint and park in it for the upcoming school year.
WFAA reported Tuesday that at least two Keller High School seniors were asked to repaint their senior parking spaces after administrators reviewed them and saw that they had rendered a pro-Trump mural and messaging for the former president and current GOP presidential nominee.
After the story aired, the school board president for Keller ISD took to his official social media account and said the students should have never been instructed to redo their spaces.
"Let me be clear. There is nothing offensive or controversial about respectfully painting or honoring a current or former President for the United States of America. We will take action and make it clear that the students can honor President Trump as the 45th, and soon-to-be 47th President of the United States, as they wish," Dr. Charles Randklev, the school board president, said.
"We worked with those students so that they could retain their prior artwork, and we are working to reevaluate our guidelines for future school years," a spokesperson told WFAA Wednesday.
Randklev didn't return messages on Tuesday when reached for comment by WFAA.
One student painted a mural of Mr. Trump wearing American flag sunglasses and a bandana. Another put 45/47 in their space, referring to Trump as the 45th president and predicting he would be the 47th.
WFAA noticed that the space with the mural has already been painted over at the district's direction. The other had not been, and per the parent of that student, it will be allowed to stay.
The other student's parent said on social media that her son would likely get to repaint his mural once he returned from a trip.
The district has guidelines for spaces.
"Use only appropriate words, symbols, and images," the guidelines document reads. "Spaces with inappropriate content will be painted over, confiscated, and re-sold."
The guidelines go on to read: "KHS has the right to paint over, confiscate, and re-sell spaces that include content determined to be inappropriate by the administration, including but not limited to controversial, offensive, or obscene material."
Nothing is expressly mentioned about political messaging.
Before Wednesday's announcement--the district sent WFAA the following statement and clarified that political messaging isn't allowed--saying not every scenario is covered by the guidelines:
"We can confirm that there were a few spots that had to be repainted because they included content that had the potential to cause unnecessary distractions to the learning environment. Every year, a few students will attempt to include a political message, controversial statement, or inappropriate words or images in their parking spot painting. When that occurs, campus administrators allow them to repaint their space," the statement read.
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