Waynick said she and other students had brought flags many times in the past with no issues and said the flags often fly alongside the Travelers Rest High School flag at games. “I am appreciative of the Travelers Rest High School community for sharing its concerns and opinions on this matter in a respectful, civil manner,' Royster said in a statement, 'I also appreciate and applaud their desire to promote patriotism and service as a part of the culture of their school and am in agreement that students’ desire to carry and display the American flag should be encouraged and supported throughout the district.” Schools Superintendent Burke Royster said he supported Lavely's reconsideration and willingness to respond to advice and input from the community. 'Instead of restricting possession of the flag, the TRHS administration will, if needed, address the misuse of the flag, or any other inappropriate behavior, on an individual basis,' she said. Monday, after meeting with student and faculty leaders, Lavely reversed course.Įffective immediately, students are allowed to bring the American flag to all Travelers Rest High School events, Brotherton said. 'I don’t want to get in the flag-screening business,” Crowe told The Greenville News on Monday.

The decision to ban the flags raised questions in the Berea community, where many posted on social media that they were not offended by the flag, and in Travelers Rest, where the city's police chief said he disagreed with Lavely's decision to ban people from bringing flags to the game. “When they told me I had to put it away, I respected their authority and I took my flag and put it up.” “An administrator walked up behind me and said ‘No American flags,’ and I asked why and they said ‘because it could offend someone,” Waynick said. While sitting in the student section, she said she was approached by an administrator. According to its 2015 state report card, Berea has a sizeable Hispanic population, with 35 percent white, 31 Hispanic, 30 percent African-American and 4 percent other races.Īlivia Waynick, a senior at Travelers Rest, said she brought her American flag to display patriotism at Travelers Rest’s first home game. Lavely said he banned the flags because he didn’t want them to be used in a disrespectful and unsportsmanlike way to taunt Berea. Lavely did not make his decision based on whether the flag offended members of the Berea community and 'vehemently denies believing or stating that the flag might be offensive to that community,' she said. Lavely made the decision to ban the flags based on past incidents in which Travelers Rest students 'used the US flag, in conjunction with verbal taunts, to target Hispanic members of the Berea community in a manner that was both unsportsmanlike and also a misuse of our flag,' said Beth Brotherton, Greenville County Schools spokeswoman. The decision came amidst uproar from the community after administrators took away at least one student's flag and banned others from bringing flags to a football game against Berea High School last Friday. If a form or note is not received, parents/guardians will need to come to the Welcome Center with their ID to sign their student out.Travelers Rest High School Principal Lou Lavely reversed his position Monday on barring Travelers Rest students from bringing US flags to sporting events and will now allow flags to be flown once again. I will also call you for confirmation before dismissing your student.Īs your student is leaving for their dismissal, they will need to stop by either the Attendance office or the Welcome Center (front office) to sign out by scanning their school ID. A copy of the parent/guardian's ID is required to be uploaded with this form for verification. Dismissals through this form are to be submitted by 10:00am to allow time for processing. I will call the parent/guardian to verify the dismissal.Īnother option for parents/guardians to submit early dismissals is through the Early Dismissal Form (link below).

The note needs to have the first and last name of the student, the time of the dismissal, parent/guardian name and contact number. They can send a note with their student to turn in to the Attendance office on their way to 1st block. There are 2 ways parents/guardians can submit an early dismissal request for their student:

Travelers rest high school bans flag