COLD SPRING, Minn. – A ban on all flags on school grounds was brought to a quick end as students and their parents put American flags on full display in the school’s parking lot.
Roughly 30 students and parents gathered at ROCORI High School Wednesday afternoon, reports KARE 11. Nearly a dozen vehicles displayed American flags in protest of a new rule banning flags.
Awesome sight to see the kids at ROCORI are proud of our flag that so many fought and died for!! pic.twitter.com/swEiaEU0QE
— Rick Briscoe (@mnblueeyenative) September 6, 2017
ROCORI Public Schools Superintendent told KARE 11 that the blanket ban on all flags was put into place after some students displayed Confederate flags.
“Students are not allowed to display flags or banners from their vehicle while parked in the Rocori High School parking lot,” reads a new policy in the high school’s student handbook, reports Fox News. The policy change was first implemented this past spring.
ROCORI is an acronym derived from the three towns the district represents. The district covers Rockville, Cold Spring, and Richmond. The high school is located in Cold Spring, a town of roughly 4,000 people, about 20 miles southeast of St. Cloud.
Staska told KARE 11 that school administrators met with protest leaders on Wednesday. As a result of the meeting, students will once again be allowed to display flags on school grounds, though some exceptions remain. Student flag displays must be respectful to other peoples, and as such any Confederate flags or flags with swastikas will continue to be banned from school grounds.
The Pioneer Press reports that there are no plans on the school district’s part to discipline protesters, nor any plans to confiscate their flags.
Staska actually praised the protesters attitudes to KARE 11.
“The students that protested did so very respectfully, were well organized, very peaceful, positive and appropriate,” Staska told KARE 11.
