LPS: Students are allowed to fly the flag on their vehicles

By: Channel 8 Eyewitness Newsroom
8@klkntv.com

Press Release from Lincoln Public Schools

Lincoln Public Schools would like to make it clear: Students at The Career Academy – and students who attend all schools at Lincoln Public Schools – are allowed to fly the American flag. High school students are allowed to fly the flag on their vehicles.

The school district apologizes and wants to clear up any misunderstanding about flying the flag.

To clarify what has happened: Last week after the election our school district has seen increased conversation among students on both sides of the election issue – and they were gathering before and after school on the LPS Career Academy campus located on the Southeast Community College campus. On Friday – Veterans Day – there was an incident reported to Career Academy administration that a flag had been pulled off a flagpole on a student vehicle in the Career Academy parking lot. The owner of that vehicle was concerned about a potentially disruptive climate – prompting administration to review the situation and make a determination that there would be the potential for continued disruption.

Our goal is always to make sure our students are safe – and that we keep the American flag safe. So it was determined to ask LPS students not to place flags on their cars at SCC while they were parked during the school day. We were doing our best to protect our students as well as the American flag. Each day, LPS administrators have to make decisions based on current conditions and climate with the information available to them. This occurred at the Career Academy.

Hindsight would suggest that this could have been handled in a different way, and we are amending our original decision. We respect the right for students to display their flags. We should not have asked our students to remove them. We believe this could easily and understandably have been misinterpreted as infringing on the rights of freedom of expression and speech. Frankly, we have heard from many students, families and community members who were concerned about taking away those rights.

LPS believes in the teaching of the tenets of the Constitution and all it represents. Patriotism is an important part of the daily learning experience. Every day in every classroom the Pledge of Allegiance is recited. Flags are flown outside our buildings and in our classrooms. We participated in and promoted Veterans Day – knowing and fully understanding sacrifices have been made to give us the freedoms we enjoy as Americans.  

We are proud of and appreciate our students and staff members at LPS who continue to focus on teaching and learning, who understand the importance of maintaining safe and secure classrooms, and who are demonstrating respect for one another.

We want to make this very clear: Lincoln Public Schools students are free to fly their flags on their cars, and leave the flags on their vehicles during the school day.