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School bans Stars-and-Bars; students fight back
Confederate flag ban prompts incident at Susquehannock
Students at Susquehannock High School may no longer wear Confederate flag shirts or have Confederate flags on campus, which led to an incident Thursday that further disrupted the school environment, the district's top official said.
According to Superintendent Thomas R. Hensley, several high school students told school administrators they were very upset by the symbolism of the flags on T-shirts being worn by other students.
Prior to student complaints, the school had not taken action toward the teens wearing Confederate flag T-shirts or displaying flags on their vehicles.
But the district took action after students came forward to complain about it, Hensley said, because it had turned into a disruptive situation on campus.
"Students are offended by the presence of the flags in the school. ... (Thursday) afternoon, the high school administration met with the eight or 10 young people," and told them they could no longer display the symbol on school grounds, he said.
"We respect the students' First Amendment rights. But students cannot engage in expressive conduct that materially disrupts the educational environment, undermines mutual respect for other students or promotes unlawful activities," Hensley said. "The school district is committed to offering all students an environment that is free from threatening or harassing behavior."
After the eight or 10 students were informed of the new policy, they left the school.
Racial slurs alleged: But they returned about 3:10 p.m. in two pickup trucks, waving Confederate flags, driving recklessly on school property and yelling racial slurs, according Southern Regional Police Chief James Childs. They also yelled the people who didn't like the flag should "move back to Baltimore," he said.
Witnesses have told police the students also yelled "white power" and used "a lot of profanity," the chief said.
The driver of one of the pickup trucks was upset because another student had taken the Confederate flag off his truck and stuffed it in his tailpipe, and another student had a flag removed from his vehicle and hidden, Childs said. The student responsible for those actions has been disciplined by the school, the chief said.
Although the incident happened after dismissal, a large number of people were on campus -- including students from other schools -- for soccer, field hockey and girls' volleyball games, and a cross country meet, Childs said.
The students driving around and creating a disturbance were suspended and ordered to leave the school property, according to Childs.
Charges pending: Those students are also facing criminal charges -- traffic violations, disorderly conduct -- and possibly ethnic intimidation charges, according to Southern Regional Police Chief James Childs.
"To me, this is a hate crime," he said. "I'm not going to tolerate it."
The eight or 10 teens, and other teens who joined them, then caused a disturbance on Baltimore Street in Glen Rock by parking numerous vehicles on the side of the road and waving Confederate flags around, Childs said. Charges may be filed for that incident as well, he said.
The students involved are primarily 15, 16 and 17 years old, he said.
School not done: Hensley said the district is still investigating whether the eight or 10 students used racial slurs.
"If that's true, we'll take even more disciplinary action against the students," he said. They have already been disciplined for being insubordinate, not following a school directive and disrupting the school environment, Hensley said.
Like Hensley, Childs said police have no intention of infringing on the students' First Amendment rights to display the flag in public.
However, ethnic intimidation -- such as using racial epithets -- is a crime and won't be tolerated, he said.
"It shouldn't even be occurring in this day and age," Childs said. "We've reported the incident to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission."
Cops on campus: Childs said police and school officials are "working together closely to bring this to an end."
"They're taking flak for this," Childs said of the district, because parents of the disciplined students are complaining.
"But the high school administrative staff has met it head on," he said.
Childs said the police department is paying officers overtime to ensure a strong police presence at the high school, including for Friday's football game and Saturday's homecoming dance.
"Kids should feel safe in school," he said.
Confederate flag ban prompts incident at Susquehannock
Students at Susquehannock High School may no longer wear Confederate flag shirts or have Confederate flags on campus, which led to an incident Thursday that further disrupted the school environment, the district's top official said.
According to Superintendent Thomas R. Hensley, several high school students told school administrators they were very upset by the symbolism of the flags on T-shirts being worn by other students.
Prior to student complaints, the school had not taken action toward the teens wearing Confederate flag T-shirts or displaying flags on their vehicles.
But the district took action after students came forward to complain about it, Hensley said, because it had turned into a disruptive situation on campus.
"Students are offended by the presence of the flags in the school. ... (Thursday) afternoon, the high school administration met with the eight or 10 young people," and told them they could no longer display the symbol on school grounds, he said.
"We respect the students' First Amendment rights. But students cannot engage in expressive conduct that materially disrupts the educational environment, undermines mutual respect for other students or promotes unlawful activities," Hensley said. "The school district is committed to offering all students an environment that is free from threatening or harassing behavior."
After the eight or 10 students were informed of the new policy, they left the school.
Racial slurs alleged: But they returned about 3:10 p.m. in two pickup trucks, waving Confederate flags, driving recklessly on school property and yelling racial slurs, according Southern Regional Police Chief James Childs. They also yelled the people who didn't like the flag should "move back to Baltimore," he said.
Witnesses have told police the students also yelled "white power" and used "a lot of profanity," the chief said.
The driver of one of the pickup trucks was upset because another student had taken the Confederate flag off his truck and stuffed it in his tailpipe, and another student had a flag removed from his vehicle and hidden, Childs said. The student responsible for those actions has been disciplined by the school, the chief said.
Although the incident happened after dismissal, a large number of people were on campus -- including students from other schools -- for soccer, field hockey and girls' volleyball games, and a cross country meet, Childs said.
The students driving around and creating a disturbance were suspended and ordered to leave the school property, according to Childs.
Charges pending: Those students are also facing criminal charges -- traffic violations, disorderly conduct -- and possibly ethnic intimidation charges, according to Southern Regional Police Chief James Childs.
"To me, this is a hate crime," he said. "I'm not going to tolerate it."
The eight or 10 teens, and other teens who joined them, then caused a disturbance on Baltimore Street in Glen Rock by parking numerous vehicles on the side of the road and waving Confederate flags around, Childs said. Charges may be filed for that incident as well, he said.
The students involved are primarily 15, 16 and 17 years old, he said.
School not done: Hensley said the district is still investigating whether the eight or 10 students used racial slurs.
"If that's true, we'll take even more disciplinary action against the students," he said. They have already been disciplined for being insubordinate, not following a school directive and disrupting the school environment, Hensley said.
Like Hensley, Childs said police have no intention of infringing on the students' First Amendment rights to display the flag in public.
However, ethnic intimidation -- such as using racial epithets -- is a crime and won't be tolerated, he said.
"It shouldn't even be occurring in this day and age," Childs said. "We've reported the incident to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission."
Cops on campus: Childs said police and school officials are "working together closely to bring this to an end."
"They're taking flak for this," Childs said of the district, because parents of the disciplined students are complaining.
"But the high school administrative staff has met it head on," he said.
Childs said the police department is paying officers overtime to ensure a strong police presence at the high school, including for Friday's football game and Saturday's homecoming dance.
"Kids should feel safe in school," he said.