Just because the decision is made by students doesn't necessarily mean it's not school-sponsored

Can a public high school fly a Christian flag outside the building if students are the ones who approve it? That question is being raised in Texas, prolonging a controversy that’s been going on for over seven years.

In 2017, LaPoynor High School, part of the LaPoynor Independent School District in LaRue, was raising three flags each day: an American flag, the Texas state flag, and a Christian flag (all-white with a red Christian cross on a blue background in the upper left corner).

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The Freedom From Religion Foundation called it out at the time, saying in a letter that the promotion of religion had “an exclusionary effect, turning non-Christian and non-believing students into outsiders.”

It wasn’t just the flag, either. The District also promoted events like “See You At the Pole” and a (faith-based) Baccalaureate ceremony on its official Facebook page. As if to hammer home the point, the “See You At the Pole” post even included a picture of the three flags.

Not long after the district received the letter, the Christian flag came down… but it infuriated conservatives in the community, who responded by putting Christian flags on their cars…

Guess what? No one cared. As church/state separation advocates have argued for decades, the concern isn’t about individuals promoting their own faith, it’s about government institutions doing it. If every car in the parking lot had a flag, and every student carried a Bible in their backpack, no church/state separation group would raise an eyebrow.

But it seemed like the actual problem was resolved. The Christian flag had come down and was replaced with another pro-Texas one.

The controversy didn’t end there, though. The district soon came up with what it believed was a new way to get around the law. Instead of ordering the Christian flag to go up, district officials put the decision of what to place on the third flagpole in the hands of a student committee:

The group is made up of the student from each grade level with the highest grade-point average and meets on a monthly basis under the supervision of a district parent, according to Superintendent Marsha Mills.

The group has chosen different flags, including one for Breast Cancer Awareness Month and one with the district’s mascot. It raises money to purchase any new flags, Mills said. But the Christian flag seems to be a frequent choice.

So the Christian flag can fly as long as students want it to, and it’s only one of several flags that have gone up.

Does that make it legal?

Arguably no.

Consider that in a place like LaRue, with a heavily Christian population, it’s not like Muslims or Satanists or atheists would ever have the votes to add their flags to the mix. The method of outsourcing the decision to students doesn’t override the fact that certain groups can’t realistically be included in the mix. Rights are all about protection from the “tyranny of the majority.”

Also consider what wasn’t mentioned in a piece by Pooja Salhotra of the Texas Tribune: There’s reason to believe that the district formed the committee specifically so the Christian flag could fly… which, if true, would mean the Christian flag is still school sponsored.

When the Freedom From Religion Foundation was investigating this matter years ago, a public records request revealed that the name of the student committee was the “Flyers Freedom of Rights to Fly.” The awkward name is clearly an attempt to mock FFRF for questioning their intentions.

It’s possible someone could file a lawsuit over this, but the appetite to fight the Christian Nationalism in a place like this is bound to be small:

… back in East Texas, there does not appear to be enough concern over the flag for students to mount such a battle. Parents in the district say they are in support of the Christian flag and do not know of anyone who is upset about the religious symbol.

“I believe in Jesus Christ, and I would not let my children go to school somewhere that does not believe in Jesus Christ,” said Ashley Hamby Brauher, who has three children in the district. “I support the flag 100%.”

I have no clue how a public school is supposed to “believe in Jesus Christ,” but Ashley Hamby Brauher has apparently never heard of private Christian schools that would be a better fit for her brand of indoctrination.

In any case, there is a legal analogy that could explain the district’s theory. Some public school districts have included formal prayers during graduation ceremonies, even listing them in the programs. One district in South Carolina had to pay out over $400,000 in legal fees to the American Humanist Association for shoving Christianity into the events.

But knowing that wasn’t legal, other district have tried to place prayers in the hands of students. Some allowed them to vote for a graduation speaker who would presumably pray at the microphone. Some said school officials wouldn’t review any speeches made by students, giving them a very clear green light to proselytize from the stage. In those cases, the courts have allowed the workarounds.

Those situations, however, are one-off events. The flags outside the school are ongoing. So the district’s theory may not be entirely on solid ground.

They’re counting on the Supreme Court—and the ultra-conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals which oversees Texas—to be on their side if anyone dares to challenge them.