Perrytown Independent School District Superintendent Tim Little contends students “were just having some self-expression” when they unfurled Mexican flags during a prep rally last week – a display that rubbed some in the Texas town the wrong way.

“Certainly the kids didn’t do anything wrong, they were just having some self-expression, and you know, I’ve been told several times this week, ‘This is America, we have a Bill of Rights, and a First Amendment,’ and absolutely we do,” Little told KAMR. “It’s pretty clear in education, the First Amendment, we don’t give up those rights just because you’re in a public school.”

That depends on the school, and the political persuasion of the “self-expression.” Numerous administrators have taken action against students for showing their support for America and president Trump. Some ban Make America Great Again gear or Betsy Ross flags, while others forbid references to the NRA, gun rights, or hunting. Some have even banished Old Glory.

Little said he spoke with students at Perrytown High School who brought the Mexican flags to the football homecoming pep rally last week, and he contends the public backlash it created is just a misunderstanding.

“That got us into social media, got us into the radio, and some people misconstrued something that was fairly innocent,” Little told KVII.

Weeks before the rally, in mid-September, students celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month, and the day before the event was “Dress International Day,” the superintendent said.

Students were still celebrating when they brought the Mexican flags to the homecoming rally, he claimed.

The stunt generated a heated discussion online and Chris Samples, morning show host for 98.3 KXDJ weighed in on the airwaves. Many agreed with Samples that the flags were in poor taste, though Samples told KVII some alleged he was racist for the criticism.

“I stand by it completely,” he said. “In my opinion, it is disrespectful to the United States of America, to the American flag and to the thousands that have died and sacrificed to defend that flag.”

It’s not about race, it’s about respect, he said.

“I think anyone from anywhere should be proud of their heritage, should be proud of their history and no one is urging people to abandon that and I know now many people that are my friends that are Hispanic,” Samples said. “People that call me a racist, give me a break, three of my kids are half Mexican.”

Little said he spoke with the students and if the flags come out again, he’ll consider it a provocation and take action. The students weren’t punished he said, and he encouraged the community to use the episode as an opportunity.

“It’s important to be aware when you’re in a public place to realize other people may not see your actions the way you do, we assured them that they hadn’t done anything wrong because what they did is a First Amendment protected right,” he said.

“We’re a diverse society, we have people in Perrytown, Texas who can see this event from very different perspectives and I’m not telling anyone what they should believe. I’m not telling anyone what they should think, I’m asking very sincerely that as we have a dialogue, let’s talk to each other and listen to each other – let’s not shout at each other.”

The superintendent’s reaction to the Mexican flags stands in stark contrast to how school officials in other places have responded when students’ “self-expression” involves support for the president, or America in general.

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In Long Island, a Samoset Middle School teacher in April banned 11 year old Bella Moscato from writing about why “Donald Trump is my hero” because she alleged the 45^th president “spreads negativity and says bad stuff about women.”

The month before, two students at Perry High School in Arizona were kicked off campus for wearing Make America Great Again gear and posing with a Trump banner after school, on USA day.

Last August, a history teacher at Lodi High School kicked two students out of class for wearing shirts in support of the National Rifle Association, even though the shirts did not violate the district dress code, according to CBS Sacramento.

Students at Brooke High School in West Virginia were labeled racists for invoking Trump’s name in a football banner, while Londonderry High School in New Hampshire banned students from displaying the American flag at pep rallies, and EAGnews reports.

A few days before the Londonderry ban, officials at Rocori High School in Minnesota forbid students from displaying any flag, including the American flag, from their vehicles on school property.

Rocori students responded by forming a caravan with dozens of American flags flying proudly from their vehicles, a display that forced school officials to reverse course.

And in Roseville, Michigan school officials banned students from displaying Old Glory on their clothes, though they later alleged the ban only applied to actually wearing the flag itself, according to Facebook posts.

There’s countless other examples of similar discrimination in schools across the country.