Sophia Shumaker’s shepherd and sheep design initially rejected under religious imagery ban

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A Colorado high school student who challenged her school’s ban on religious designs for senior parking spaces will now be allowed to repaint her space to reflect her Christian faith.

In August, Sophia Shumaker, a senior at Rampart High School in Colorado Springs’ Academy School District 20, requested permission to decorate her paid parking space with a design illustrating Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep.

The school has a tradition of allowing seniors to reserve and pay for their own parking space and decorate it with school-approved artwork.

Shumaker’s design featured a shepherd, a staff and sheep, along with a reference to the Bible verse 1 Corinthians 13:4. But school administrators rejected it, citing a district policy prohibiting religious imagery. Shumaker said she was forced to choose a different design, which she found deeply disappointing given the importance of her faith.

“I was honestly upset just because other people were getting to express themselves how they wanted and Christianity is my whole identity and I just really wanted to express that,” she told Fox News Digital in an interview.

After the assassination of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk in September, Shumaker said she was inspired to take a stand.

“I had been watching Charlie Kirk for like as long as I can remember,” she said. “He’s been the one that really influenced my religion and speaking out about what’s right and stuff like that. So he was really big on my heart throughout this whole process.”

Shumaker sought help from First Liberty Institute, a Texas-based legal organization that defends religious freedom. The group sent a demand letter to the district, arguing that the policy violated students’ First Amendment rights.

Their letter said that several schools within the same district allow symbols like crosses and other Christian references in parking space designs.

“The district’s inconsistent policies demonstrate that the seniors’ messages on the parking spots in Academy School District 20, including those at Rampart, are private speech, not government speech,” First Liberty wrote in a letter to Superintendent Jinger Haberer and Principal Meghan Sanders on Oct. 22. “Therefore, the district cannot deny Ms. Shumaker’s private, religious speech without violating the First Amendment.”

First Liberty demanded that the district rescind what it called an “unconstitutional policy” and allow Shumaker to repaint her parking space with her original Christian design.

On Tuesday, First Liberty announced that the district had agreed to change its policy and would allow Shumaker to repaint her space.

“The First Amendment protects students’ private expressions of faith in public schools,” said Keisha Russell, senior counsel for First Liberty Institute. “We are encouraged that the school district will now allow students like Sophia to update their decorated spaces with religious themes for the remainder of the year, and we hope that it will make such a policy permanent so future students can enjoy the same opportunities.”

Academy School District 20 confirmed to Fox News Digital that the policy would be changed going forward “to keep things clear and fair for all students” and seniors would be allowed to repaint spaces upon request.

For the remainder of the school year, “schools will allow artwork based on a student’s viewpoint around topics such as religion” as long as the designs follow other guidelines, such as not displaying offensive or rude language or references to drugs, weapons or gangs, the district said in a statement.

Russell said she hopes Shumaker’s case encourages other young people to stand up for their beliefs.

“It really shows other young people around the country how important it is to stick up for what you believe in,” Russell told Fox News Digital. “And I just want to encourage all young people to do the same.”

In August, a high school senior in New York also successfully fought her school’s policy against religious designs on senior parking spaces.