Summer ends and Round Rock High School seniors were quick to begin painting their reserved parking spots in preparation for the coming year. Students spent hours at a time under the intense summer heat painting their spot and making it their own. For most, a rewarding task. However, this was not the case for all when several seniors discovered their spots had been tampered with or even vandalized completely. Some vandalism seemed directed at certain students while others at ideals or political opinions.

“You don’t have a right to vandalize or damage somebody’s else’s  property,” Assistant Principal in charge of parking Jeff Black said.“ You do have the right to have a conversation about it. You do have the right to challenge someone’s opinion, but you don’t have the right to take it to that extent.”

 He said that assistant principals are looking into the situation, but that there is no academic punishment. 

Seniors like Caroline Cantrell found out from a friend on Aug. 2 that her spot had been vandalized. Her ‘Save the Sea Turtles’ themed spot had been ruined after someone painted over the word “Save” and glued straws down over her dried paint.  She had to go buy more base paint adding onto her already $150 in expenses. 

“I was really angry and disappointed,” she said.

 Senior Jack Mulkey found out a similar way while on vacation. 

“I was on vacation on a plane when my friend texted me a picture of what happened,” he said. “So when I was on my trip this kid- who I know the name of – painted a white penis over it as a joke. I was enraged. It cost like $200 in paint and took hours to do.”

Senior Britton Forse’s spot was targeted for her political beliefs. 

“I am really angry and upset that something I spent so much time on would be destroyed just because my views are different from the normal liberal ones in Round Rock,” Forse said.

Her spot had a Republican Party themed paint job, which caused controversy because students believed the rules prohibited political messages on students’ spots.  That is never stated in the rules, however. Assistant Principal Jeff Black said he thinks vandalism like this is less directed at the student and more directed at the ideals or philosophy being put on display. That didn’t lesson Forse’s anger.

“I lashed out on social media and then tried to talk to Groff and he did nothing about it,” Forse said. “We asked if there were cameras and he said no. The conversation was about 30