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Veteran urges board to fly POW/MIA flag; solicitor outlines legal options
Summary
A Vietnam Veterans of America member asked the board to fly the POW/MIA flag at district sites; the board’s solicitor explained the distinction between adopting a districtwide flag policy and opening flagpoles for community groups and cautioned about First Amendment implications.
Cliff Kershner, a member of the Vietnam Veterans of America, Berks County Chapter 131, asked the Upper Perkiomen School District board on May 28 to approve flying the POW/MIA flag alongside the American flag at all district buildings and athletic fields.
Kershner framed the flag as a symbol of remembrance and civic duty, cited figures for missing service members and said it is Pennsylvania law that the POW/MIA flag be flown on state properties where the U.S. flag is flown. "By your approval to fly the POW/MIA flag, you'll be joining other local districts and districts across the country that recognize the importance of this symbol," he said.
Solicitor Kyle Summers outlined legal approaches and cautioned that different procedural routes carry distinct consequences. He said a board decision to adopt the POW/MIA flag as a district message is permissible, while opening school flagpoles as a forum for outside groups to fly their flags could create First Amendment obligations and lead to legal challenges, citing a past Supreme Court case involving the city of Boston as an illustrative precedent.
Board members discussed where such a proposal could be handled — policy, facilities or directly before the board — and asked that, if pursued, it be framed as district speech rather than opening flagpoles to arbitrary outside requests. No formal vote was taken; the solicitor suggested the item could be placed on a future agenda or taken up by a committee for formal consideration.
