Passaic high school places Pride flags in school windows to get around ban

A northern New Jersey high school wants to show support for Pride Month, even though the district won’t allow a Pride flag to be raised on the flag pole this year.
The students at Passaic Prep Academy have placed Pride flags in the windows of the building as a way to get around the rule. The school district only allows three flags to be flown outside its school – the school flag, the state flag and the American flag.
But since the Pride flags are inside the building, Passaic Mayor Hector Lora says that it does not seem to be violating any policies.
The issue was a point of contention recently. The school did raise the Pride flag last year. But board members said it led to questions about who decides which flags go up. The district then decided to limit the flags.
But the students were determined.
"School is somewhere you should be able to go and feel safe and be around and have people you know support you, not feel like you’re not supported or accepted,” says Passaic Prep Academy senior Amari Gawthney.
"There's a lot of expressive people here, like non-binary, LGBT and a lot of people were very happy about it,” says senior Anahi Calixto.
News 12 New Jersey did reach out to the Passaic School Board president and school superintendent for comment. Neither responded.