Connetquot students seen wearing Confederate flags

<p>At least two Connetquot High School students were seen wearing Confederate flags on their clothing for the school's celebration of spirit week.</p>

News 12 Staff

Oct 27, 2017, 2:51 AM

Updated 2,370 days ago

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At least two Connetquot High School students were seen wearing Confederate flags on their clothing for the school's celebration of spirit week.
Most students marked the event by wearing shirts bearing images of American flags, but when word spread of the Confederate flag being worn to school, one Ronkonkoma father raised concerns of racism.
"I think that's a form of disrespect, wearing that flag in school like it's nothing," said the man, who asked not to be identified.
He sent News 12 pictures of two students wearing the "stars and bars" in class and the gymnasium. He says his daughter, a 10th-grader at Connetquot, told him three to four students wore hoodies and shirts with Confederate flags. However, the school says it was two students.
The 10th-grade student's father, who is black, says he feels that it's important to speak against a symbol of segregation.
"I didn't think it's appropriate for kids to walk around with that," he said. "If they're doing that, their parents are doing something else much worse than that. They're just following suit. That's all and it's sad."
Another Ronkonkoma father, who has a ninth-grader at Connetquot, agrees. "I feel it should not have been allowed onto school grounds," he said.
That second father claims that when he called the principal, the school took action and suspended a student for five days. However, the school says no students were disciplined for their attire.
Dr. Lynda G. Adams, superintendent of the Connetquot School District, issued a statement that says, "During the high school's celebration of Decades Day, as part of spirit week, one student's attire was deemed to violate the school's code of conduct as it created a disruption to the educational process. The administration took a proactive and immediate approach to addressing this matter."
The statement continues, "Although the district cannot comment on individual student discipline as it is a matter of privacy, students are expected to adhere to the district's code of conduct, but the consequences of each violation are handled on a case-by-case basis. At no time was any student disciplined for their attire."


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