Looking at the above drawing one might think that this would be a perfect way for senior members of the McKinney North High School swim team to display school spirit, as well as their allegiance to the swim team. North swim team senior Madison Kuhn took the initiative to create this design, which was to to be used to paint their senior parking spots by the five seniors on the swim team.
After standing in line for 90 minutes to wait for administrators to approve the plan, the swimmers got the stamp of approval, bought the paint and set to painting their design the weekend prior to the beginning of the school year. But things went awry two days after school started when the students received a letter saying that their parking spaces were "out of compliance" because they did not meet the required "school colors." Furthermore, if the parking spaces were not repainted by Sept. 3, the students would lose their designated space and incur a fine of $10.
Some seniors who spent their Labor Day weekend repainting their high school parking spaces said they were frustrated because the high school did not state specifically what constitutes "school colors," which are defined on their website as blue and orange. They said that the design was approved, so they thought it was approved as submitted. Some parents and seniors said that the lack of clarity has cost the students time and money.
Said one parent, who asked not to be identified, "My frustration is that they (the students) got the design approved. Then the kids spent their money and their time painting. I was proud of what they (the students) had done."
Another parent told TSB that the school website states that parking spaces must be painted in school colors of blue and orange, but doesn't give specifics as far as a particular shade of blue or orange, nor is a pantone number given.
"It's unfortunate," the parent told TSB as she helped her senior repaint his spot. She said that next year they (school officials) will let the stores, and the students, know exactly which colors are be acceptable.
Although North Principal Jimmy Spann declined to comment for this story, a parent told TSB that the students recieved an apology for the misunderstanding from the principal and that the students involved were impressed by his doing so.
Comments
Oh Good Grief. The kids did a great and creative job. Reward the kids for doing such a good job and stop being ridiculous.
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Which shade of Blue works?
The entire incident was frustrating and totally unnecessary. All of the communication from the school stated that the spots had to be done in school colors, which are orange, blue, and white. Many of the kids chose a blue color that is almost exactly like the blue that is seen all over the school, navy is not seen in the school as the predominant shade of blue. The school also had no concern for the amount of money and time that was spent to change the spaces. The story talks about Mr Spann apologizing to the students, however the only senior students that he apologized to were the swim team students, as he probably found out that the story was coming out about their spots, but doesn't talk about the almost 40 other seniors that had to redo their spots, and incur that expense at the schools whim, and nothing was said in apology to them, and in fact were just told that this is how it is. I fully agree that the parking spots needed to stay within the parameters set, however the school was not specific in the beginning as to what shade of color each one had to be. I truly believe that the school should have looked at the entire situation, and seen that with all the time, creative effort, and money that was used that they realized that next year they would have to be more specific in their instructions. It is really sad that so many really creative ideas were stifled because of a few students complaining and an administration that improperly handled the situation.