OPINION
FFA students at Coldwater High School in Ohio say they were told they could not adorn their tractors with flags supporting President Trump.
Once a year the FFA kids are allowed to drive their tractors in a parade on school grounds.
However, school leaders learned in advance that some of the students intended to fly Trump flags on their tractors – and that led to a big problem.
“The school administration told them they were not allowed to drive their tractors into the school with Trump flags on them otherwise they would be suspended – they would ban all FFA activities for the future,” Craig Lefeld said in a Facebook Live video posted below.
Instead, the kids were invited to parade at a local tractor dealership.
“These kids are just supporting their country and their president,” Lefeld said in his Facebook Live video. “Kids just standing up for what they believe.”
Social media video shows the students driving through town in John Deere tractors with Trump flags waving in the breeze.
Lefeld said the students intended to follow the school district’s edict once they got on school property.
“These kids will be respectful, supportive and follow the unfair rules they were given,” he said.
— Zach Zwiebel (@ZwiebelZach) February 28, 2020
The school district released a statement to radio station WCSM acknowledging that students were told they could not decorate their tractors with any political decorations while on government property.
“They were informed that while they are free to do so outside of this school activity (including as they drove down public roads to campus), once their tractors were on school grounds as part of the FFA event they were to remove these political decorations,” the statement read.
The school district stressed that no students were threatened with suspension and it was not directed specifically at President Trump.
“The district does not allow political speech in favor of or against any candidate, party, or issue,” the statement read.
However, TeamTrumpUSA.com published text messages, purportedly from school administrators, that contradict the district’s statement.
“Please remove any political flags, signs, etc. before parking at the school. If you would like to talk to me about this and the possible consequences if you don’t follow this request, please give me a call tonight,” the text message read.
The text message ended with a rather ominous warning.
“I don’t want the FFA program to suffer for years to come because of one event,” the message read.
I know a threat when I see one and that, ladies and gentlemen, is a threat.
Shame on the school district for blocking these patriotic kids from flying their pro-Trump banners.
Wouldn’t it be great if maybe President Trump or Donald Trump, Jr. showed up in Coldwater, Ohio and led a tractor parade through town with the FFA?
FFA week tractor drive in pic.twitter.com/JIzzUgkVqk
— Keith Boeckman (@eggkb1) February 28, 2020