School's note under Trump photo meant as message to students, not an insult, officials say

A Macon high school's nameplate for the president caused a stir recently, but school officials say it was just a misunderstanding.

Howard High School installed a "chain of command" display in the school's Junior ROTC wing last year. It shows pictures of Air Force leaders, from President Donald Trump all the way down to cadet leaders, Principal Shannon Norfleet said. Paper nameplates are used since the people in those positions sometimes change.

The nameplate for Trump has been vandalized 15 to 20 times since being added to the display, with students ripping off the paper or writing on it. It's not JROTC students who are defacing the property but other students at the school, Norfleet said.

Late last week, JROTC instructor Lt. Col. Raiford Rainey added a note under Trump's photo that said "whether you like it or not." Stevie Clements saw the sign while attending a wrestling match at the school Saturday and posted a video on Facebook.

"People took that as an insult to the president when it was not meant to be anything other than a message to the students," Norfleet said. "We're trying to teach students character and respect. (We’re) trying to get across to students that they are certainly welcome to their opinions, but you can’t act physically on those feelings by vandalizing property.”

The "whether you like it or not" note has since been taken down, and Clements took his video off Facebook and apologized after talking with Norfleet and Rainey and learning the circumstances, said Stephanie Hartley, the district's communications director.

In an apology to Norfleet, Clements said he thought posting the video was the right thing to do at the time but now understands and agrees with Rainey's reasoning. He hopes his apology will get as much attention as the video did.

"I would have been very frustrated to have to replace that name over 20 times, and there's not a doubt in my mind that I would have done the same thing," Clements wrote. "I admire you for doing the job that you do. I know it can't be easy with kids these days."

Norfleet said he talked to about five other people who were concerned about the sign, and they all said they understood the situation after he explained the purpose of the "chain of command" display.

"There has been a great deal of conflict in our country over the past year, and we are using this incident as an opportunity to continue to address the character, respect and honor as we speak with our students," Hartley said.

The district is working to find nameplates that can't be defaced as easily, Hartley said. Norfleet said the situation is a "small-level matter" in the scheme of things, and his name has been ripped off the display a few times too.

“Redoing those nameplates for a more permanent solution will cost money," he said. "We’re going to do it, but we’re trying to figure out the best way to do that.”

This story was originally published December 13, 2017 at 12:32 PM with the headline "School's note under Trump photo meant as message to students, not an insult, officials say."