State superintendent steps up after Oklahoma school district forbade teen to fly American flag from truck

The state superintendent of Oklahoma public schools has stepped up after a school district tried to prevent an Oklahoma teenager from flying the American flag on the back of his pickup truck.

A couple weeks ago, Caleb Horst arrived on the campus of Edmond North High School in Edmond, Oklahoma, with an American flag affixed to the back of his truck. Though the newly minted high school senior claimed the flag had been there "for quite a while," school administrators told him that the flag was against the rules and that he needed to remove it sometime in the next several days, Blaze News previously reported.

These reports should include 'specific measures' administrators are taking to 'integrate' these demonstrations of American pride into 'school culture.'

Edmond Public Schools, a district located just north of Oklahoma City, said at the time that, as a general "practice," students were forbidden to bring any sort of flag onto campus to ensure safety and prevent "disruptions and distractions during the school day."

At 7 a.m. on August 26, a group of more than 50 patriots from the school and around the community came out to Edmond North High School to protest the flag ban and to support Horst.

Now, Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters has intervened on behalf of Horst and other students of like mind and created guidelines for districts to protect students' rights to display the American flag.

According to Walters' new guidelines, all Oklahoma school districts must develop a policy that "ensures the U.S. flag ... can be flown and displayed on all school campuses without infringement." Walters also encouraged districts to adopt a policy that will promote a "respectful presentation of the flag" so that students and staff give the flag the "honor it deserves."

The guidelines further require districts to submit reports to the Oklahoma Department of Education about their new flag policies as well as their level of compliance with a state law mandating at least weekly recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. These reports should include "specific measures" administrators are taking to "integrate" these demonstrations of American pride into "school culture," said the letter detailing the guidelines.

"No school in Oklahoma should tell students they can't wave an American flag," Walters said in a statement released Thursday. "Americans have fought and died for the right to carry our flag, and no student should ever be targeted for exercising that right. Our young people should never have to fear displaying their patriotism and I will fight every day so that when our students want to express their love for America, they can do so boldly and proudly."

The letter from his office similarly stated that "no student should ever be targeted for their patriotism."

Meanwhile, the Edmond district continues to defend its previous ban on flags. In a letter issued since patriots gathered to protest the district's severe restrictions on the American flag, Superintendent Angela Grunewald claimed that the practice was implement seven years ago after the flag was being "displayed improperly and grossly disrespected," KOCO reported.

The district also insisted that its members are "proudly patriotic" and that they will work to create a clearer policy going forward, KOCO said.

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