Haddonfield School Board Board Reverses Course on Flag

Haddonfield school board administrator Andrew Hall said today the district will put a small American flag back on the bulletin board outside of the district administration building on Lincoln Avenue, less than a day after questions were asked about why it was removed.

“There will be a replacement flag on the bulletin board by the middle to end of next week,” Hall said during a brief telephone interview Friday afternoon. He declined any further comment. He said an e-mail from board President Steve Weinstein to Haddonfield Patch was the official comment from the school district.

“I knew nothing about this until your reporter came up at the end of the meeting last night,” Weinstein said in an e-mail Friday afternoon. “To think this is something the board would get involved in is, quite frankly, silly. Apparently that flag decal has been there for many years and was probably put there at some point where an event occurred nationally and someone tried to show a bit of patriotism.

“I'm sure no one meant at any time any dishonor to the flag—not sure why it would be seen that way. My guess is over the years it got to be a mainstay there.

“Whether it is up or down is not of great moment and Patch's effort to make a controversy over this suggests, at best, a slow couple of news days. Our business administrator works too hard on too many important things to be dogged over this. I mean no disrespect for you or your team, nor any disrespect for the flag, but why are we spinning around over a flag decal on a public building? The district personnel have nothing further to say on this.”

Hall asked Haddonfield Patch on Thursday to stop using a file photo of the district administration bulletin board that had a 3-by-2-inch, window-decal type American flag thumbtacked on it.

“After one of your articles someone complained about the flag in the case and we had it removed immediately,” Hall wrote in an e-mail.

Hall said he made the decision to remove the flag on his own. He declined to say why he decided the flag was “inappropriate” and needed to be removed. He also declined to say who complained about the flag and why.

School Superintendent Richard Perry said Thursday there was no board decision made regarding the flag and "we don't even know why it was in there." Hall said, "It was put in there 25 years ago."