Imlay City schools has reversed their position on seniors painting their parking lot spaces

IMLAY CITY — A meeting between Supt. Dr. Stu Cameron and the seniors at Imlay City High School has resulted in a change of position by the Superintendent.

Having originally opposed the idea of allowing the seniors to paint assigned parking spaces, Dr. Cameron agreed to listen to seniors and a group of parents supporting the concept and as a result, he has reversed his decision and is allowing the painting to be done.

As long as it’s done with guidance and following established guidelines.

In an email to a group of seniors and forwarded to the Tri-City Times, Dr. Cameron said, “after careful thought and consideration, I am approving your proposal for senior parking space painting. Above all other items we discussed, I’m approving this because I truly believe that your interest in this project is about promoting school spirit among your peers and bringing the Class of 2026 together around this potentially unifying activity. I want to thank you for your candor, your thoughtfulness, and for being open minded to my concerns during our meeting.”

He went on to add, “I was – and am – impressed with you as individuals and as representatives of your class. You’ve done a great job thinking through this, being flexible to my counter proposals and considering my concerns, and have presented your ideas and genuine enthusiasm for the project in a manner about which you should be proud. I have certainly been impressed!”

Dr. Cameron pointed out those involved in the project, “will need to work closely with the leadership of Project Graduation to organize this, and assure that it is executed in such a way as to assure that the concerns I’ve presented are fully addressed. Good news – I believe this can all be done, as long as we work together.”

The superintendant told the seniors, “I’m approving this endeavor as a “pilot” program. The success of your class in executing it fully, and as we discussed, will determine whether future classes are able to participate in their respective senior years. As such, it will be very important for you to impress upon your classmates the responsibility that comes along with the freedom to conduct the project. I’ll depend on you, as leaders, and your class, to do this the right way – within the guidelines/timelines established, and fully, through the design process all the way to paint removal in the spring. If anyone can manage this maturely, it is you and your classmates. So, I’m looking forward to working with you on this. I believe you will make it a success.”

Dr. Camerons’ email went on to inform the seniors, “Given the timelines we’ll be working with, it is imperative that we meet this week along with the leadership of Project Graduation, so that we can flush out some of the more important details. Aside from those big picture items we’ll discuss together, I will ask you to work closely with Mrs. Gallagher, who has managed this type of project before, and Mr. Henley, who is responsible for the direct care of the building and oversight of all of our projects at ICHS as this project proceeds. They will be great guides.”

The superintendent told the seniors, “I’m including a list of the concerns that I spoke about with you during our meeting, and those that I covered with the Project Graduation leadership. Of importance is the fact none of us (Class of ‘26, school administration, and Project Graduation) want this to be monetized in any way (beyond the most basic startup costs) that would exclude members of your class from participating. This was one of my main concerns, and I’m thankful that everyone agrees that all the members of the class should be able to participate if they wish to do so, regardless of their financial situations.”

Dr. Cameron shared a bullet-point list of items he expects the seniors to follow with the pilot program.

•Parking lots require uniform, high-contrast striping for safety and organization, and the painting and mixed colors can obscure those markings, especially at night, or during poor visibility (rain, snow, etc.) – we need to assure that the safety features of the parking lot, including the striping remain visible.

•Painted parking spots may be affected by snow removal or sustain other damages. Your classmates will need to know this. No painting – even touchups, etc., can be conducted without approval of the high school administators.

•Painting of parking lot spots interferes with the district’s pavement-care lifecycle (seal coating, restriping, patching, etc.) and can generate additional costs for care that the district would carry on. Only products/techniques that will not disrupt this cycle or the preventative maintenance of the parking lots can be used in this project.

•Environmental and storm water drain concerns – paint handling, disposal, and cleanup present issues. We need to make sure this does not damage the facilities, but also, and importantly, the local environment. Project Graduation can be a big help devising these with you.

•Maintenance concerns are a reality; adding a level of maintenance – whether it be cleaning, painting over spots that require it, or relining the parking lot that does add work to a department that already has a plethora of ongoing projects and work to accomplish. I wish not to add to their already long list of maintenance duties. That means that it is critical that we handle this thoroughly and completely, and with input from Mr. Campbell.

•Districts that offer this option deal with vandalism, graffiti, pranks, and disputes that are an ongoing headache. I’ve learned this during my discussions with other districts. It is not uncommon for spaces to be defaced after hours, which leaves the district to investigate, etc. Again, I will need to depend on you and your classmates to “self police” one another to assure the message is clear on this: it won’t be tolerated, so don’t do it.

•Content disputes are often an issue at schools that permit this. We will need to work together to assure that management of the proposed designs/content do not run the risk of causing any First Amendment violations, but also closely adhere to the ICHS Student Code of Conduct as well as any special guidelines or stipulations created for this specific project. We can’t have displays that are inflammatory or elicit actions that become disruptive to the operation of the district. I.E. – this needs to be a project that causes class unity and school pride first and foremost, not one that causes ongoing commotion or disputes.

•Perceived “ownership” of spots often becomes an issue for schools. I need you to work with the school administration to make sure that we have a procedure to handle these issues in such a way that it does not take valuable time away from the other work of the office staff and administrators.

Andrea Czapiewski, one of the parents who met with the superintendent said the meeting went very well.

“He met with four parents and Josh (Henley) and told us he had met with the seniors. He was very impressed with their (seniors) maturity and thorough answers. he told us most of the board members were in favor of this, but wanted further clarity. he was very reasonable and open to ideas.”

She said everyone is working together to finalize plans this week so the kids can turn in their art work for approval and begin the painting process once designs have been approved.