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DENVER---Based on a ruling by Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, Commissioner of Education William Moloney has advised all school superintendents they are prohibited by law from banning students from reasonably displaying the United States flag on their person or property.
The Attorney General said that “while schools can and should act to prevent conduct by students that interferes with the education process, their remedy must be narrowly tailored and cannot include a general ban on displaying the American flag”.
The education commissioner and Attorney General became involved when administration at the Shaw Heights Middle School and Skyline High School in Westminster and Longmont sent home a letter to parents stating that due to student safety, students would not be allowed to wear clothing to school with political messages or flags of any kind.
School administration banned virtually all displays of patriotism, including the American flag, because they said that the displays were inflaming the immigration debate among students.
Several students had been disciplined for wearing T-shirts that depicted an American flag. http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/040706FlagsBanned.html
The education commissioner sent a copy of the state statute concerning the proper and legal display of the U.S. flag to all school superintendents in the state with a memo after being urged to do so by the Attorney General.
C.R.S. 27-2-108.5 reads, “The right to display reasonably the flag of the United States shall not be infringed with respect to the display: (a) On an individual’s person; (b) Anywhere on an individual’s personal or real property. http://www.ago.state.co.us/press_releases/COSupMemo.pdf
The ban was implemented following several incidents at the school including students wearing camouflaged clothing, apparently their way of showing their patriotism after Hispanic students began carrying Mexican flags. Administration deemed student attire was becoming disruptive and a safety issue. Students protested the ban by walking out of class. An administration spokesperson said the flags were being used as symbols of bigotry and hostility rather than as a symbol of cultural heritage and that freedom of speech can be limited in schools, despite the immigration debate, if there’s a safety issue.
"While schools can and should act to prevent conduct by students that interferes with the education process, their remedy must be narrowly tailored and cannot include a general ban on displaying the American flag," Suthers said.
The ban was lifted Thursday, the day after the Colorado Senate voted to punish schools that banned respectful displays of the U.S. flag. 4-09-06
© 2006 North
Country Gazette
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