Middle School Student suspended for wearing Confederate Flag Shirt

By Lisa Coryell,

The Times of Trenton

Newspaper photo courtesy of the West family.

 A Kreps Middle School parent who says her daughter was suspended for wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with the image of the confederate flag says the school overstepped its boundaries and violated her daughter’s right to free speech.

Jane West says she’s thinking about withdrawing her daughter, Torri Albrecht, from the school even as district officials insist that the flag — viewed by many as a racially charged symbol — was not the reason the girl was suspended.

“They’re saying that now because they know they really went too far this time,” West said. “If there wasn’t a problem with the sweatshirt, why did the vice principal call at 10 after 8 on Monday to demand that I bring a change of clothes for my daughter?”

“He told me he had a bunch of students and a bunch of teachers come into his office to say they were disturbed by it,” she said.

West said she told the assistant principal, Jermaine Blount, he was crazy if he thought she was coming out with a change of clothes for the eighth-grader.

“The Indian kids wear their turbans. The Jewish kids wear their yarmulkes. That’s their birthright,” she said. “I told him that Torri was born in Virginia. That flag is her heritage and I’m not telling her to take it off. He said ‘I guess she’ll have to suffer the consequences.’”

West said before heading to the school she called her daughter’s cell phone to tell her not to follow any orders to turn the sweatshirt inside out.

When she got to the school she was told that her daughter had been given a one-day suspension, she said.

No stranger to run-ins with school administrators at Kreps over issues involving her daughter, West said she’d had enough. She told her daughter to clean out her locker because she wasn’t coming back to school.

District Superintendent Edward Forsthoffer III disputed West’s account.

“No student was suspended for wearing an inappropriate shirt,” he said. He declined to say why Albrecht was suspended, citing student confidentiality policies.

Speaking in generalities, he said the district has a dress code that bans any clothing that causes a substantial disturbance in school.

“We’d rather be proactive than reactive,” he said. “Ninety-nine times out of 100, when asked, students say ‘OK, I’ll change.’ Some want to make an issue of it for ulterior motives. If there’s defiance involved, if there’s profanity involved (in the refusal to change clothing), certainly we’d have to respond appropriately.”

The battle flag of Confederate forces in the Civil War is widely regarded as one of the most controversial symbols from American history. Many see it as a symbol of racism while others consider it a part of familial and cultural heritage.

West says she and her daughter are in the latter group.

“We are so far from prejudiced,” she said. “My older daughter is biracial. For Torri this was about expressing herself. It was about saying ‘I’m from the South and I’m proud of it.’ She didn’t do it to cause hurt feelings.”

There's more.  See the full story here: http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2011/11/east_windsor_teen_suspended_ov.html

Daughters of the Confederacy take part in Operation Shoebox in New Jersey

Somerset Reporter
http://www.nj.com/reporter/index.ssf/2008/12/daughters_of_the_confederacy_t.html

"The holidays are coming. It's a lonely time to be halfway around the world from home," explained Rhonda Florian as she stuffed candy into a care package. "We're trying to bring the soldiers some holiday cheer."

Florian is chairman of the Patriotic Activities Committee for the Isaac W.K. Handy Chapter 2658 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Chapter members participated in a recent packing event conducted by Operation Shoebox at the VFW in Manville on Nov. 15. Joining Operation Shoebox staff and other volunteers, the Isaac W.K. Handy Chapter packed up care packages for U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait.

"We're trying to give them a few of the comforts from home," Florian continued.

Each care package was stuffed with cards and letters, toiletries, snacks, and Girl Scout cookies. Christmas ornaments, stuffed animals, and other Christmas items were included in the packages also. Approximately 1,100 boxes were packed that day to send out to the troops.

"This is the second time we have volunteered for Operation Shoebox. We love knowing that we're doing something to help our troops," Florian said. In the past two months, the Isaac W.K. Handy Chapter has raised $1500 in goods and cash for Operation Shoebox.

Members have donated 49 hours of service.

Operation Shoebox is a nonprofit organization that sends care packages to U.S. troops overseas. The United Daughters of the Confederacy is also a nonprofit organization. It is the oldest patriotic organization in the United States. Its objectives are Historical, Educational, Benevolent, Memorial and Patriotic. Part of its mission is to support U.S. troops and to honor veterans of all U.S. wars. The Isaac W.K. Handy Chapter believes that sending care packages to soldiers is a good way to fulfill its mission."

I can't wait for the next packing event," Florian saidd. "We have a lot of soldiers out there in the desert. We want to do whatever we can to make their lives a little more comfortable and pleasant."

Any lady with a Southern heritage who is interested in UDC should contact Florian at floriangel1@aol.com.For more about Operation Shoebox New Jersey, visit http://www.opshoeboxnj.org/.