“What happened to this student is outrageous. School officials should never censor, punish, or shame a student simply for sharing her views.”
A North Carolina school board has agreed to settle a lawsuit over allegations that the district censored a rock that had been painted with a tribute to the late Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
Per WBTV, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education has agreed to pay $95,000 to settle the lawsuit filed by parents of an Ardrey Kell High School student. The student had painted the school’s spirit rock in honor of Kirk following his September 2025 killing. The rock read "Live Like Kirk," and included the Bible passage John 11:25, which reads, "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."
The lawsuit alleged that the student’s constitutional rights were violated, saying that the student had received permission to paint the rock. As part of the settlement, the school district has agreed to pay $95,000 in costs and attorney fees, adopt a new policy, and publicly clear the student of any wrongdoing.
Just hours after the rock was painted by the student, her parents, and two other students, school officials ordered that the message be painted over. The school allegedly accused the student of vandalising the rock, pulled the student out of class to write a statement, and viewed her phone logs. The school also released a since-revoked speech code that allowed only for "positive school spirit" messages on the rock, and barred students from writing religious messages on it. School officials also reportedly contacted law enforcement for a criminal investigation. The school walked back the speech code in October, and claimed that there was no criminal investigation into the matter.
Senior Counsel Travis Barham with Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented the high school junior, said in a statement, "What happened to this student is outrageous. School officials should never censor, punish, or shame a student simply for sharing her views. Charlie Kirk boldly defended open and respectful discourse on school grounds literally until his last breath, and this courage inspired many across the country, including our client, whom Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials treated so abominably."
Barham added, "It is long past time for school officials to learn that they cannot promote student viewpoints they like while punishing students whose views they dislike. We hope the new policy prevents school officials from subjecting any other students to the abuse our client experienced and will instead force them to respect every student’s constitutional rights."
ADF said the student had seen other messages written on the rock that ranged from support of NFL teams to Black Lives Matter messages. The following day, a school-wide email was sent out by administrators accusing the student of "vandalism." ADF said, "chool officials never obtained permission from parents to go through her phone, nor did they inform the students or parents about their constitutional right to remain silent and contact an attorney during a criminal investigation."
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