MORGAN HILL, Calif. – Five students at Live Oak High School were told that they could either go home or be suspended if they did not take off their American flag shirts on Cinco de Mayo.

The students were sitting at a table during their brunch break when the vice principal approached the group and asked two of the boys to take off their American flag bandanas and for the others to turn their shirt bearing the flag’s image inside out, according to MSNBC.com. The boys were sent to the principal’s office when they refused.

Because the high school has a large population of Mexican-American students, school officials believed the shirts could lead to fights because the students were wearing American colors on a Mexican holiday.

The boys were told that if they went back to class without removing their shirts, they would be suspended. As a result, the students left school for the day. However, the group and their parents were outraged that they were not allowed to express their American pride.

The students and their families discussed the problem with a Morgan Hill Unified School District official Wednesday evening. The district stated that it did not agree with the way the school’s administrators handled the incident.

The students were not suspended and were allowed back on campus.

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