Every Maryland classroom, by law, must have an American flag. But Parker Jensen says some of his classrooms did not. And when he tried to learn why, he was suspended from school.
Jensen is a senior at Towson High School. In a few months, the 18-year-old will be graduating. But he doesn’t plan on attending college.
“I'm joining the Marine Corps. Patriotism has always been a big thing in mind,” proclaimed Jensen.
And with that in mind, Jensen recently noticed something that concerned him at his high school.
“I'm only in two classes,” said Jensen. “But both my classes do not have American flags.”
Which is a problem, because Baltimore County School Board Policy 6307 and Maryland Education Code 7-105 require the American flag be displayed in each classroom. If Towson High School has classrooms without a flag, that’s a violation of state law and board policy.
“If you say the pledge of allegiance and there's no flag, you're just saying words that don’t mean anything,” remarked Jensen.
So, in February, Jensen tells Project Baltimore, he went to Towson High School’s vice principal, who said he would look into the issue. In March, Jensen says he went back to his vice principal because his classrooms still did not have a flag. A few weeks later, with still nothing being done, Jensen took his concerns to his principal’s bosses.
Suspended for “Disruptive behavior”, “Refusing to cooperate with school rules” and “Failure to follow a direction.”
“I was very frustrated,” explained Jensen. “I feel like what they did was unlawful. You know, we have the right to record government employees in the course of their duties. It just shines a bad light. I believe what I was doing was lawful and I had a reason to be there. And the only reason why they would suspend me is because they know that they're on the wrong end of that.”
Jensen does not believe this incident will impact him joining the U.S. Marines. But he is taking legal action. Jensen has hired an attorney to challenge his suspension and trespassing charge – claiming what happened is unconstitutional.
