Students at the Ardrey Kell High School in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg district were in hot water last month over claims they "vandalized" a campus "spirit rock" by painting it to honor TPUSA founder and CEO Charlie Kirk. On September 15, Townhall reported that school officials accused the students of vandalism and claimed they did not have permission to paint the rock to honor Kirk.
As Queen City News reported at the time:
The father of one of the students who helped paint the rock, and wanted to remain anonymous, spoke with Queen City News, saying his daughter and two of her friends got approval before painting the message, which he said was meant to honor political commentator Charlie Kirk and his family following what he described as Kirk’s “brutal murder.”
“My daughter and her friends received permission to paint the school rock in front of Ardrey Kell HS,” the father said. “Then this email goes out to all the parents from the principal.”
He’s referring to a message sent by Principal Jamie Nichols, who told parents the school learned over the weekend that the rock had been painted with a message “not authorized or approved by the school or district.”
Officials went so far as to contact law enforcement about the issue.
Now the district has done an about-face on the issue, and it is no longer claiming the Kirk painting was "vandalism."
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools reverses claim about Charlie Kirk tribute ‘vandalism’ https://t.co/7divEC3iQg
— The Charlotte Observer (@theobserver) October 19, 2025
Here's more from The Charlotte Observer:
A south Charlotte high school completely reversed its statement last month that called a rock painted in honor of conservative media personality Charlie Kirk “vandalism.”
The weekend of Sept. 13, a group of students at Ardrey Kell High School painted a large rock in front of the school – known as the “spirit rock” – with a tribute to Kirk, who was assassinated at a Utah university Sept. 10. The school’s principal Susan Nichols later sent a message to families saying the tribute was “vandalism” and violated the CMS Code of Student Conduct. It also said law enforcement had been contacted and the school was cooperating with the investigation.
However, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools now says none of that is the case. The Charlotte Observer’s news partner WSOC-TV first reported on the reversal.
“On September 14, 2025, a communication was shared with families from Dr. Nichols. While this message was prepared by our Communications Division, it did not fully reflect the details as reported by Principal Nichols,” CMS said in a message to Ardrey Kell parents Saturday. A parent shared it with The Charlotte Observer.
The message denied that the district contacted law enforcement, but did state that the painting was not vandalism and did not violate district policies.
But it did also claim that the Kirk tribute "did cause a disruption within our school community," prompting Dr. Nichols to create "guidelines for the use of the Spirit Rock."
As many on social media pointed out, there was no concern about "disruption" when Spirit Rock was painted for BLM.
So at Ardrey Kell high school, which "policy" forbids the painting of political messages, this is OK, but a tribute to the assassinated Charlie Kirk is not. Wow! pic.twitter.com/JhtT6HOu8w
— It's_What_They_Do (@JohnCli15879967) October 20, 2025
The double standard is glaring.
“Dr. Nichols” 🙄
— Jennifer (@Genovese_777) October 20, 2025
This racist political display on Ardrey Kell’s Spirit Rock is disruptive,
highly racist,
politically charged,
violent and
disrespectful
this FACT needs to be clearly addressed by CMS also.
What you allow for 1
you allow for all. pic.twitter.com/MvOvvKE9dc
The BLM painting, it could be argued, is far more political and divisive than one memorializing an assassinated man.
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