HB1345

This appears to be an authoritarian request and not one that makes any sense, especially with an exception for "educational" purposes. wouldn't ALL additions be educational? Who has time for students to be a "color guard" to deal with the daily raising and lowering of the flags??? Are we trying to prohibit a pride flag? And I'm against a fine for non-compliance? I'm fine with prohibiting a confederate flag, Nazi swastika, and other symbols of hate and exclusion, etc.

You'd think with the number of bills about flags in schools that NH didn't have any problems at all. Property taxes are skyrocketing and pricing people out of their homes and our state, schools are literally falling apart, we've got a huge deficit thanks to Republicans, and THIS is your top priority? And what happened to local control and keeping government out of things? Come on! Flags don't hurt anyone, why don't you actually get to work on the issues that impact Granite Staters.

I oppose this bill because I don't think it is necessary. I would guess that if someone tried to put up a Nazi flag, for example, the school and community would be able to deal with it.

I was not out in high school. I can remember 2 teachers that had a pride flag on their door. It made me feel less alone. It made me feel like I had a lifeline of if I was outed. It is simple. It is small. You may not understand it but a simple display of a pride flag can save someone’s life.

This bill is an obvious free speech violation. It’s all Live Free or Die unless you disagree with your very specific point of view. Please reject this bill and do better.

As retired teacher, I look back on all the wonderful students I had. I worked to make each and every one feel comfortable in my classroom so that they could do their best. A small pride and BLM flag or sign lets kids know that they are all welcome.

I oppose this bill because it reduces transparency or public accountability and does not meaningfully improve outcomes for New Hampshire residents.

PLEASE focus on real life issues and not cultural divisions. We are all humans. As I have said before, be kind in the years you have on this planet. Does it hurt you to allow people to live their own way?

Isn't the motto of our state "Live Free or Die?" Why are we meddling in this issue? Is it really the place of the legislature to determine what flags can be flown in our classrooms? Sounds like Big Brother to me.

Are you not concerned that this bill is in violation of the First Amendment rights of students? For example, what if students in a Current Events class on the war in Ukraine wanted to display the Ukrainian flag in their classroom, to express empathy and solidarity with that country's struggle to remain a free and sovereign democratic nation? HB 1345 SEEMS TO SEEK TO REPRESS FREE EXPRESSION OF THOUGHT. If you read the second paragraph below, perhaps you may conclude that what this bill does is "invade the [FIRST AMENDMENT] rights of others". = from LEGAL CLARITY, Education Law "The Foundation of Minors’ Free Speech Rights The legal basis for students’ free speech rights in public schools was established by the Supreme Court in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969). The case involved students suspended for wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War, leading the Court to declare that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” The Tinker ruling established that student expression is protected unless school officials can prove it would “materially and substantially interfere” with the school’s operation. Administrators cannot censor speech simply because they dislike its message; they must have concrete evidence that it will cause a significant disruption or invade the rights of others. The Court found no such evidence regarding the armbands, making the school’s actions unconstitutional."

This is overreach. Requiring schools to designate students to form a color guard limits the capacity for all students at a school to participate in honoring the flag. At the lower grade levels, most schools rotate the duty so that as many students as possible get a chance to learn protocol and participate. Legislating that each school designate a certain group of students is limiting, unnecessary, and political posturing. We don't need even more laws and strictures regarding what schools already do.

Freedom of speech is one of the Bill of Rights

I oppose this bill; I support our freedoms. We elect school boards for such decisions, the state has no reason to impose such a ruling.

What happened to Live Free or Die? This micromanagement is absolutely absurd. Time not well spent.

This is a ridiculous burden on taxpayers. People can barely afford to stay in their homes never mind register a bicycle.

NH's schools have better things to worry. I really don't see why anyone cares if a teacher puts up a rainbow pride flag. I really wish NH's lawmakers would devote their time to more useful ends rather than worrying endlessly about what goes on in classrooms.

Another attempt to stifle speech some don't agree with.

I support PRIDE flags in school. It helps children struggling with those feelings to know it’s ok. It’s about inclusion which we so desperately need under our current regime that our awful governor supports.