Derby principal Tim Hamblin has made a change heading into Friday’s Homecoming football game against Bishop Carroll.

“Effective immediately, a pregame meeting for all event supervision staff will be held at the stadium before kickoff,” Hamblin wrote in an email to a Pantherstale.com staffer on Monday. “At this meeting, staff will be briefed on any issues or possible issues we could face at the event and how to address those issues at each event.”

Hamblin’s policy is a result of the Sept. 20 football game when a student’s Donald Trump 2020 flag was taken by an administrator.

It was Derby’s first home football game, most fans in the student section were dressed in red, white, and blue as part of the Military Night theme. Some held up high small USA flags.

A few students had “MAGA” and “Trump for 2020” painted on their chests and backs. 

Administrators took the Trump flag. 

In an email, Hamblin said it was inappropriate to take the flag in that situation.

“School authorities do have the authority to remove items (flags, signs, etc.) if they could cause a substantial disruption to the operations of school or a school activity,” Hamblin wrote.

Hamblin wrote that there was miscommunication among administrators.

“I gave what I thought were clear directions on how such a situation was to be handled,” he wrote. “The fact that it was handled in a completely opposite way tells me a communication breakdown caused this incident, and that is solely my responsibility.”

Before the game on Friday, several administrators talked about the possibility of students bringing a Trump flag. 

“A lot of schools have a USA night, and we really try to gear more towards a Military appreciation night,” Derby athletic director Russell Baldwin said on Friday afternoon. “We did kind of talk a little bit more about Trump flags and stuff like that as an administrative team, and as long as it’s done respectfully, then we haven’t really talked about banning flags that aren’t normally banned. We know there are some Trump flags around and the administrators that are up near the student section will be monitoring that kind of thing.” 

Recently Lake Hamilton High School in Arkansas dealt with the same sort of issue when cheerleaders held up a sign that read “Make America Great Again.” 

“The football games aren’t a place to voice your opinion on political issues,” senior Samm Spoonemore said. 

Were students’ First Amendment rights affected?

Spoonemore doesn’t think so.

“I don’t feel like our rights are being taken away, although it was military night, that has nothing to do with politics. There’s a time and place for those issues and it’s not at a high school football game,” Spoonemore said. 

The students who had the flag refused to comment to Pantherstale.com reporters.

There are instances when school authorities can stop an action — or take a flag — if there has been a previous disruption or there is a possibility of a future disruption.

“That was not the situation in this incident, and the student should not have been asked to remove the flag from the premises,” Hamblin wrote in an email.

“Given the polarization within society, I do believe it is possible that all of the emotion and social media activity this incident caused, (it) may have happened if the flag was not removed by people offended that it was allowed to be present.

“Really a no-win situation for a school and its staff.”