Oklahoma Public Schools Chancellor Ryan Walters told Fox News Channel that his district will institute new policies to help students show their patriotism after an Oklahoma high school student was forced by school officials to remove an American flag from his truck earlier this month.
Walters declared on “Fox & Friends Weekend” Saturday that under new state school guidelines, students will not be punished for flying the flag or showing patriotism. Instead, they will be encouraged to love the country and gain a deeper understanding of its founding.
“We're not going to tolerate this kind of anti-Americanism,” Walters told “Fox & Friends Weekend” co-host Pete Hegseth.
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Oklahoma Public Schools Superintendent Ryan Walters spoke to Fox News Channel about new school guidelines that promote patriotism. (AP Photo/Sue Oglocki, File)
The public schools superintendent's appearance on the channel came days after it was reported that Edmond North High School senior Caleb Horst had been asked by school officials to remove the American flag from the pickup truck he drives to school.
Holst He spoke to local media outlet KOCO.School officials told him it was school practice to keep the flag off campus. Edmond Public Schools denied that their stance on flying the flag has anything to do with patriotism. They told KOCO the practice is for safety and to avoid distractions.
“Edmond Public Schools prohibits students from flying or carrying any flags on school grounds. This practice has been in place for several years and is explained to students at the beginning of the school year along with various other policies and procedures. This is to prevent disruptions and distractions during class time. It is also an effort to provide a safe school environment as flags on vehicles not only create safety hazards in the parking lots but can cause damage to other vehicles,” Edmond Public Schools officials said in a statement previously provided to Fox News Digital.
The statement added, “To be clear, this is not about the American flag or patriotism. Edmond Public Schools proudly displays the American flag prominently, appropriately and respectfully outside our school buildings and in our classrooms. Not only do we recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of our school day each morning, but we also raise the flag and play the national anthem at most athletic events, all in an appropriate manner and in accordance with flag etiquette.”
Holst said he has had the flag on his car for some time and was confident the school would not infringe on his free speech rights by allowing him to fly the flag.
“It's never been an issue and it's a First Amendment guarantee, so it's hard for them to infringe on our rights,” he said.
Walters slammed the decision and suggested he was working on changing state school rules to address the issue.
“Schools in Oklahoma should not be teaching students not to wave the American flag. Americans have died for our flag. They have died so that students have the right to carry our flag, wave our flag and be proud of our American flag,” Walters said in a video posted to X. “My department is currently working on developing guidelines to issue to school districts to ensure students are not targeted for carrying the American flag and that schools promote patriotism.”
Fox News Channel's interview with Walters began with several new guidelines the Superintendent's department has enacted to prevent such incidents, including requiring schools to have clear policies in place to ensure the flag is flown and displayed, requiring students in the state to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at least once a week, and requiring schools to submit reports showing they are following these guidelines.
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Caleb Horst, a junior at Edmond North High School, said school officials told him he couldn't fly the U.S. flag on the truck. (istock)
Walters told Hegseth that he wants the school to counter anti-Americanism promoted by “the Biden administration, the teachers unions and the far left.”
“We will not tolerate that in our schools. We want patriots. We want our students to fly the American flag,” he asserted.
He added that state officials “acted swiftly to ensure this never happens again. All schools in the state will protect the right of students to fly the flag. We will fly the flag and promote patriotism in Oklahoma schools.”
Walters also said the state's schools are “reframing social studies standards to deepen understanding of America's founding.”
“We need more patriotism. Our schools have become left-wing indoctrination factories that instill hatred in our country. That won't happen in Oklahoma,” he said.
The superintendent issued a memo to state schools in June, instructing them to incorporate the Bible and the Ten Commandments, primarily for historical context, into their curriculum for grades 5 through 10. Walters said at the time that the directive was in line with education standards approved in May 2019.
Fox News Digital's Greg Wehner and Kristin Parks contributed to this report.
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