York schools to allow American flags on students' cars after protest, parade

Dozens of students and adults paraded through York waving American flags early Thursday, then lined up for hours outside York Comprehensive High School to protest the school’s ordering a student to remove a flag from the back of his pickup.

“It just means a lot to me to be out here doing this,” said Keith Lyon of York, who parked on S.C. 5 outside the school and waved a large flag as traffic passed. His father was a World War II veteran, Lyon said, and he wanted to show his patriotism.

More than 70 vehicles participated in the protest, which was organized after school officials removed an American flag from the bed of a truck owned by senior Peyton Robinson, 18.

School officials initially said the flag posed a safety violation, as it could block the view of other drivers.

By mid-day Thursday, however, the district posted an announcement on its web site, saying it had reviewed the policy and decided there would be an exception “for the American flag, as long as the size of the flag does not create a driving hazard.”

“We appreciate the passion and pride of all who have called or come by YCHS over the past 24 hours,” the district announcement said. “America was founded by Patriots who led positive change in a myriad of ways. We believe today is a great example of peaceful demonstration leading to positive change. This is the very process we advocate in our Social Studies classrooms and the fabric of American citizenship. Thank you for helping us as we educate the students of our community.”

During the protest, April Rumfelt of McConnells flew two flags from the bed of a truck parked outside the school with her brother, Joseph Hinson. Rumfelt said her daughter wants to join the U.S. Army, and she believes that students should have the right to display a flag.

“They’ve been flying the flag on the back of their trucks for years and nothing’s ever been said about it,” Rumfelt said. “I don’t think our children should be taught that they shouldn’t fly the flag and be proud of where they’re from.”

Rumfelt and Lyon said they do not believe an American flag flying on a truck bed poses a safety problem.

“They shouldn’t have done that,” Lyon said. “It was wrong.”

James Hicks, a veteran who participated in the protest, said he wanted to show his support for students who want to show the flag.

“I fully support what the kids are doing,” he said.

Protesters gathered in the parking lot of the Bi-Lo grocery store in York, then marched down Congress Street and around the S.C. 5 bypass before parking in front of the high school. As protesters waved their flags, many passing cars and trucks honked in approval.

Robinson said he just wanted to express his patriotism when he posted two flags on either side of the bed of his 1990 GMC Sierra. He didn’t think anyone would have a problem with it.

For about a month, he said, nobody complained as he drove back and forth to school from his home in McConnells – an American flag waving in the breeze on one side, a POW/MIA flag on the other.

When he arrived at school on Wednesday, though, Robinson said a school administrator told him to take the flags down, saying someone had complained about them. He was later pulled out of class and told to meet an administrator in the parking lot, he said, where he found school officials already had removed the flags.

“They took them down and laid them in the bed of the truck,” Robinson said. “I don’t think they should have touched my truck without my permission.”

Once he got home, Robinson said, he replaced the flags in their flying positions. Then he starting venting about the incident to his friends on social media.

By Thursday morning, residents were rallying around the teen and his right to fly the flag.

“I’m not trying to prove a point,” Robinson said, “but I’m a U.S. citizen, and I have the right to fly the flag if I want to.”

York school spokeswoman Maria Duncan said Wednesday that the issue wasn’t that Robinson was flying a flag, but that any flag on a vehicle posed a safety hazard.

“For safety reasons, it is a violation for vehicles to have flags mounted on them,” Duncan said. “It has nothing to do with being an offensive act. Students were told that their patriotism was appreciated, but having a flag flying on the back of the vehicle in the parking lot at YCHS is a violation of school rules related to safety.”

Robinson said a school administrator told him and his mother that flying the flags violated the school’s student driver and parking policy, but he couldn’t find any prohibition on flags in the student handbook and no explicit rule on flags is listed in the policy posted on the school’s website.

Duncan called it a “standing” rule that the high school has enforced for years.

The school district said Thursday that Robinson and the other students involved in the morning protest, in light of the change in policy, won’t face any disciplinary action. Duncan said administrators at York Comprehensive and members of the student council are now collaborating to resolve the issue.

Even before the question of whether or how he could be punished for continuing to fly the flag, Robinson had made up his mind about how he planned to handle the situation.

“I’ve always been taught to stand up for what’s right,” he said.

This story was originally published May 14, 2015 at 10:48 PM.