Periodic tables, maps and campaign posters are just a few of the many items that decorate the walls of PHS classrooms. Soon, another addition will be made to this list: the American flag.
According to California Ed Code, alongside other requirements School Boards must provide each school within their district a flag of the United States, which should be hoisted above each school. Piedmont currently meets this demand, flying both the American flag and California flag on the flagpole at the entrance of campus. However, the district is not fulfilling the other demands of the Ed Code related to patriotism, something they are in the process of working to meet.
“The law says that the US flag has to be posted in every classroom,” said Superintendent Jennifer Hawn.
Principal David Yoshihara said that the fact that Piedmont’s noncompliance with this requirement was brought forward by a Piedmont parent, concerned that the schools were not abiding with California law.
“We are in the process of getting American flags in all of the classrooms, as required by Education Code,” said Yoshihara.
The hanging of the United States flag is not the only requirement PHS has yet to fulfill.
“The law also says that every school must have a daily patriotic exercise,” said English Teacher and APT President Elise Marks. “It doesn’t define that very well. It just says Elementary School has to do it at the very beginning of the day [and] all other schools just have to do it at some point in the day.”
According to California Ed Code, in secondary schools, the school board holds the responsibility of determining what constitutes a patriotic exercise. The giving of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States is listed in the Ed Code as an example that satisfies the requirements.
Yoshihara said that the School Board is currently in the process of working with staff to decide what exactly these patriotic activities will look like.
“We just have to make sure that if somebody asks ‘do you do a daily patriotic exercise’, [we can say] ‘yes’,” said Yoshihara. “We have to be able to provide that answer to meet the spirit of the law.”
Marks said she hopes to see students contribute ideas regarding what they believe Piedmont’s patriotic exercises could look like.
“I keep saying please, please, please talk to the kids,” said Marks. “Think about an approach that would do what the law requires but actually feel like a positive and kind of uplifting thing for us.”
