Students Suspended For ‘Flag’ Burning

By Tanjua Damon

Three students from Newtown High School were suspended this week after they took an international signal flag created for the spring musical Anything Goes and burned it outside the main entrance of the school Tuesday afternoon.

According to William Manfredonia, principal, around 2:30 pm three students set fire to the painted canvas prop that resembles the colors of the French flag (blue, white, and red) on the sidewalk at the front entrance of the high school.

The incident occurred after teacher Tom Swetts, also an advisor to the drama club, was taking down several of the signal flag props because they were obstructing the audiences view of the actors on the set. Initially the props were being used to spell out Anything Goes. The prop that was burned was the ‘t,’ which was painted with three thick stripes in the order of red, white, and blue.

That particular prop flag was selected for removal after one of the drama club members spoke with Mr Swetts, asking if it could be taken down because it resembled the French flag and it bothered him because he had a brother serving overseas. Mr Swetts said he agreed to have that particular prop be among the several flags to be removed for better sight lines. As the drama club advisor was on scaffolding taking down some of the signal flags, one of the students accused of participating in the “flag” burning, took the prop and brought it outside along with some other students.

Three students took part in the incident, not all of them were members of the drama club. The fire marshal and police responded to the high school after the 2:30 pm incident occurred. The students received a week’s suspension for destroying school property and causing a dangerous situation, but further consequences could be possible, depending on what the police decide to do in the case, Mr Manfredonia said.

 “The issue we dealt with was starting a fire on school grounds and jeopardizing student safety,” Mr Manfredonia said. “There is no way I would allow anyone to start a fire on school property and justify it. This was inappropriate.”

Detective Sergeant Robert Tvardzik said Thursday that police are in the process of interviewing witnesses.

 “It’s under investigation,” he said. There is the possibility of criminal charges being filed against persons in the case, he said. If charges are pressed, police would seek arrest warrants to lodge those charges, a process which can take weeks.

Detective Robert Koetsch and School Resource Officer Jason Frank responded to the Tuesday incident near the main entrance to the high school.

Mr Manfredonia is grateful that no one was injured in the incident. High school students were released around noon Tuesday for parent teacher conferences, but students were at the school for sporting and club activities.

Both Mr Manfredonia and Superintendent of Schools Evan Pitkoff said they respect the right of people to express their beliefs, but destroying school property and creating a dangerous situation is not acceptable.

“It’s being treated as a serious matter because it caused a hazardous situation,” Dr Pitkoff said. “The students created a dangerous situation. Our concern in this matter was the safety of children. I don’t think this was appropriate for a school situation, regardless of people’s political beliefs.”

The students will be given time to make up missed work during the week suspension as mandated by state law.