Parents of two students involved in Confederate flag dispute remove them from public school
The parents of two Alvin, Texas junior high school students who are involved in a dispute over wearing Confederate flag symbols in school have removed them from public school in favor of home-schooling. The parents claim safety, rather than defiance, led them to remove their sons, Marshall Alexander and Robert Kaufman Jr., from Harby Junior High School. Robert’s father says the boys were threatened on a daily basis. The boys said some students threatened to beat or kill them after news accounts of their protests involving Confederate flag symbols. Alvin Independent School District (AISD) Superintendent Greg Smith acknowledges the boys got in an argument with some other students, but no violence occurred. He says administrators have looked into the alleged threats. Shortly after the school year began, school officials ordered Robert to remove a Confederate flag from his loose-leaf binder and ordered Marshall to stop wearing a belt buckle that displayed crossed U.S. and Confederate flags. School officials later removed the United Daughters of the Confederacy pin and membership certificate from a display in honor of mementos of school namesake Grace Harby. In a written response to complaints from Marshall and Robert and their parents, AISD’s director of administrative services Tim Turner stated: "The display of the confederate flag by students has become culturally divisive and will not be permitted on campus." The response went on: "Harby Junior High, as all Alvin ISD schools, strives to maintain the safest learning environment for all of our students." He defended school officials’ actions and refused the parents’ request for apologies. Last month Alvin school district police chief Eugene Lewis informed both boys' parents they were prohibited from going on campus except to pick up or drop off the boys. He wrote that the parents' presence "has become a disruption to the normal and orderly routine of the school." "Repeated calls or demands to meet with campus administrators and staff have caused alarm and safety concerns among staff members at the school," Mr. Lewis wrote. The parents deny they have been disruptive while meeting with school officials.
Houston Chronicle
By Richard Stewart
[Full story]
[Editor’s Note: For past coverage of the story and links to information on similar controversies and resulting court decisions, see below.]
[NSBA School Law pages on Alvin controversy]