Idaho School Administrators Paint Over Black Lives Matter Mural
MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho (AP) — School officials have painted over murals painted onto high school parking spaces in southern Idaho after one image of the Black Lives Matter movement sparked student protests.
Administrators with the Mountain Home school district said Monday that the parking lot was painted over after coming to an agreement between the superintendent and the associated student body president.
School officials said the murals — which were part of fundraiser for homecoming — had to go because they violated school policy. But students countered that the real issue was the content of a portrait of a black woman with a "Black Lives Matter" caption.
About 100 students took part in a two-day silent protest at the mural at Mountain Home High School. Superintendent James Gilbert says under the new agreement students will be allowed to repaint a smaller area within each parking space, but they must be pre-approved by administration.