West Monroe High School is enforcing a rule against flying rebel flags on campus before, during or after school. (Photo: Monroe News-Star)

West Monroe (La.) High School has banned rebel flags from flying on campus, but Principal Shelby Ainsworth said clothing featuring the flag will still be allowed at games, as will flags that aren’t mounted on poles.

Ainsworth said the administration started the school year by telling students the flags cannot be flown from vehicles on campus before, during or after classes. He said the administration confiscated about six flags Friday morning and will return them to the students or parents.

“This morning, I announced that we’re going to take that same approach and that same policy to our jamboree, to our ball game tonight,” Ainsworth said of the Neville match-up Friday night. “We want to be hospitable in all of our ball games.”

Ainsworth said the administration’s response is based on nationwide response to the Confederate flag tied a church shooting in South Carolina, and they “don’t want to do anything on our campus that would rub salt in a national wound.”

RELATED: At Hurley, Confederate flag is everywhere

He said the school has not restricted any rebel-spirited attire, and flags mounted on pole have never been allowed into the stadiums.

“People can wear what they want to wear to the ball games — the public, our students,” he said. “We’re just focused on the flying of the Confederate flag.”

“Our whole purpose is to try to keep the mascot and everything that we have without it causing such a distraction.” Ouachita Parish School Board Superintendent Don Coker said.

Aisnworth said the school officials aren’t trying not to make wearing the flag a big issue.

“If it’s a situation where they flaunt it; if it’s very blatant, we’re trying to stay away from that as a student body,” he said, adding they want to address each individual issue alone and separately.

RELATED: Schools debate use of Confederate flag, Rebel nicknames

“We certainly would discourage anything that would take away from what our kids are there for — to play football and to show all their hard work in the course of the years,” Coker said. “I hate the fact that this is taking away from the kids themselves.”

“We want tonight to be all about two strong communities coming together,” Ainsworth said. “No doubt it’s a rivalry, but them coming together in support of their teams — two teams that stand a wonderful chance of making a run for the state championship in each of their classifications. We want it to be a night of competition, not a night spent worrying about these flags.”