LONDONDERRY, N.H. – The Londonderry school district is backpedaling after a letter to seniors banned students from displaying the American flag during an upcoming pep rally at Londonderry High School.

“Mr. Juster and the Pep Rally Team” sent a letter to students on September 10 as a “reminder” of “protocols” for teams participating Londonderry High School’s Fall Pep Rally.

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Londonderry resident July Baldasaro posted an image of the letter, which went out with the apparent approval of principal Jason Parent on Monday, to Facebook.

“A reminder of the format; your team is introduced to enthusiastic applause and you break through your banner, taking a place of honor on the floor,” the letter read. “There are protocols for pep rally team entrances. No one in the audience should feel uncomfortable. Make sure every member of your team is aware of this.”

The letter goes on to list to proper pep rally protocols, including no undressing, no derogatory statements, no questionable messages on clothes, signs or skin, and “NO use of the American flag.

“Do not wear/carry/present the American flag on the floor,” the letter read.

“What an insult to Americans!” Baldasaro wrote in posting the letter. “Londonderry school memo states they want to make sure ‘nobody feels uncomfortable.’ Londonderry NH schools prohibit use of American flag at pep rally. Residents can express their opinion at contact info on flier.”

Her post caught the attention of a local political radio show, Granite Grok, which opined on the situation in a blog Monday.

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“This letter that went out has the high school principal’s name on it. And while I don’t put much stock in the public education system this didn’t go out without more than one set of eyes or some layer of review,” host Steve MacDonald wrote. “That review process, which they may now have to deny ever existed, explicitly prohibited any presentation of the American flag on the floor by high school athletes or other participants.

“No one in the school read this short letter with its four simple rules and sent, ‘whoa, wait a minute. This sound a lot like we are banning the American flag at a pep rally in a taxpayer-funded public school in Londonderry, New Hampshire’ (which is, for the record, in America),” he continued. “Something stinks in the Londonderry High School, and it smells like anti-American, social justice, inclusive excellence, dcult voodoo.”

Local parent John Lyscars later posted a message on Facebook that he received from school officials after inquiring about the situation.

“Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I’ve spoken to Jason (Parent), who tells me that it was the organizers’ intent to prohibit disrespectful displays of the flag, and not of an appropriate display of the flag,” superintendent Scott Laliberte wrote. “This was not communicated cerarly in the initial memo. We are in the process of composing a clarifying statement to the community, and we will be providing organizers with a link to the American Legion Flag Code, so that they can provide students with specific reference to the appropriate handling of the American flag.”

The incident follows several similar bans on the American flag in schools across the country. A few days before the Londonderry letter went out, officials at Rocori High School banned students from displaying any flag, including the American flag, from their vehicles on school property, EAGnews reports.

Students responded by coming to school in a caravan with dozens of American flags flying proudly from their vehicles, a display that forced school officials to reverse course.

And in Roseville, Michigan last month, school officials banned students from displaying Old Glory on their clothes, though they later alleged the ban only applied to actually wearing the flag itself, according to Facebook posts.

In virtually every case, the public backlash against American flag bans in school has been fierce, and the Londonderry debacle is no exception.

“Wow, Londonderry. What a shameful thing to do,” Ryan Tom wrote.

“I would recommend that students disobey the school’s directives and bring the flag in anyway,” Josh Moore wrote. “Just rebel in the name of patriotism.”

“There is NEVER an acceptable reason to ban the American flag,” Baldasaro posted.

“Every student should bring one. Doesn’t say you can’t in the stands,” Chris Oleverio pointed out.

Several others posted the contact information for school and district officials to encourage folks to speak out.

School officials eventually sent a prepared statement to the Londonderry News after receiving a flood of calls:

It was not our intention to ban the use of the flag at the rally, but instead to limit how students are including the flag in the school event. There have been incidents in the past where students carried flags, but in a manner not consistent with the American Legion Flag Code. At previous rallies, some students have included it as part of an outfit allowing the flag to drag on the ground. The email was simply meant to avoid repeating any inadvertent disrespect of our nation’s flag. We have corrected the misunderstanding by sending an updated email to parents and staff clarifying how it can be used at the pep rally. In further clarification, the display of the flag and the singing of the National Anthem are both included in the pep rally program.