Oklahoma State School Superintendent Ryan Walters told Fox News Channel that his school district will implement new policies to allow students to show their patriotism, after an Oklahoma high school student was forced by school staff to remove the American flag from his truck earlier this month.
Walters, speaking on “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Saturday, announced that under the new state school guidelines, no student will be punished for flying the flag or showing their patriotism. Instead, they will be encouraged to love their country and better understand its founding.
“We will not tolerate this anti-Americanism,” Walters told “Fox & Friends Weekend” co-host Pete Hegseth.
Oklahoma State School Superintendent Ryan Walters told Fox News Channel about new school guidelines promoting patriotism. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
The public school superintendent’s appearance on the channel came several days after the murder of Edmond North High School senior Caleb Horst. allegedly instructed School officials asked him to remove the American flags from his pickup truck that drives to and from the school.
As Horst said told local outlet KOCOSchool staff told them it was school protocol to not fly flags on campus. Edmond Public Schools denied that their stance on flying flags had anything to do with patriotism. They told KOCO the practice was for safety and to avoid distractions.
Edmond Public Schools officials said in an earlier statement, “It is Edmond Public Schools’ tradition that students are not permitted to fly or bring any flags of any kind onto our school premises. This tradition has been in place for many years and is explained to our students at the beginning of the school year along with various other policies and procedures. This is designed to prevent disruptions and distractions during the school day. This is also done in an effort to provide a safe school environment as flying flags on vehicles creates safety issues in the parking lot and can also cause damage to other vehicles.” Information provided to Fox News Digital.
“To be clear, this is not about the American flag or patriotism. Edmond Public Schools proudly displays the American flag prominently and in a proper, respectful manner outside each of our buildings and in our classrooms. Not only do we recite the Pledge of Allegiance every morning when we begin our school day, but we present the colors and play the national anthem at most of our athletic events. All of these things are done in the proper manner in accordance with flag etiquette.”
Horst said he had been flying flags from his vehicle for some time, and was confident the school would not infringe on his right to free speech by flying the flags.
“I’ve never had a problem with this before, and this is our first Amendment“So it’s harder for them to violate our rights,” he said.
Walters denounced the decision and indicated his department was working on changing the state’s school rules to address the problem.
“No school in Oklahoma should tell students they can’t fly the American flag. We have Americans who have died for that flag, who have died for students to have the right to carry the flag, wave the flag and be proud of that American flag,” Walters said in a video posted on X. “My department is working on guidelines right now that we will issue to districts to ensure that no student is ever targeted for having an American flag and at the same time that our schools will promote patriotism.”
In an interview with Fox News Channel, Walters mentioned some of the new guidelines the Superintendent Department has created to prevent such incidents, one of which is that schools are required to develop a clear policy that ensures that flags can be flown and displayed, second that students across the state will have to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at least once a week, and third that schools will have to file a report showing that they are complying with these guidelines.
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Caleb Horst, a senior at Edmond North High School, said school officials told him he couldn’t fly the American flag from his truck. (iStock)
Walters told Hegseth that he wants his schools to stand up against the anti-American sentiment being spread by “the Biden administration, teachers unions, and the radical left.”
“We’re not going to tolerate this in our schools. We want patriots. We want our students to fly the American flag,” he said.
The superintendent said his administration had “acted swiftly to make sure this will never happen again. Every school in the state will defend the students’ right to fly that flag. We will fly that flag, and promote patriotism in Oklahoma schools.”
Walters also said the state’s schools are “redeveloping our social studies standards to gain a greater understanding of the American founding.”
“We need more patriotism. We’ve seen our schools become centers of left-wing ideology that spreads hatred for the country. That’s not going to happen in Oklahoma,” he said.
Superintendent issued a memorandum In June, schools in the state were directed to incorporate the Bible and the Ten Commandments into their curriculum for 5th through 10th grades, primarily for historical context. At the time, Walters said her directive was in line with educational standards approved in May 2019.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Weiner and Christine Parks contributed to this report.
