Superintendent To Change Safety Policy After Students Defy School On American Flag

Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced Monday that his state’s Department of Education is changing its safety policy after students defiantly paraded outside a high school with American flags in their vehicles.

Caleb Horst, an Edmond Public Schools (EPS) senior, said the district demanded he remove an American flag from his vehicle by Monday, KOCO New 5 reported. When Monday came, a number of students protested the school’s disciplinary warning against Horst by showing up in vehicles with American flags, a video posted by the outlet showed. Adults were also present, according to the video report.

“It felt pretty good just to see how many people were behind us,” Horst told the outlet. “I know there’s a lot of people who aren’t behind us, but there’s probably even more that are, and it kind of was encouraging.”

EPS previously told KOCO that no policy exists in the district against vehicles displaying flags, but added that it is the standard not to do so. The district pointed to safety risks of flags in cars in a statement obtained by News9.

“It is the practice of Edmund Public Schools to not permit students to fly or bring flags of any kind on our school campus… flying flags on vehicles creates safety issues in the parking lot as well as can cause damage to the vehicles,” the district reportedly said..

The state superintendent spoke out against the school reprimanding Horst prior to Monday’s demonstration. “Patriotism should never be penalized at Oklahoma schools. Ever,” Walters wrote on X.

“My department right now is working on guidelines that we will be issuing to the districts to ensure that no student is ever targeted for having an American flag, and also that our schools will promote patriotism,” the state superintendent announced. “We want our young people to be patriotic, we want them to love this country. And we’re going to continue to support our young people to have the greatest understanding of American history in the country and to be proud of our country.”

Superintendent To Change Safety Policy After Students Defy School On American Flag (msn.com)