HASTINGS, Mich. (AP) — A school district in western Michigan has asked students not to display the Confederate flag on their vehicles or wear clothes with it during school hours.

Hastings Area School System Superintendent Carrie Duits says she made the request to students last week. She tells The Grand Rapids Press that the district is using it as a “teachable moment” about how the flag is perceived, and that officials “know there is a balance between First Amendment rights and equal protection rights.”

WXMI-TV and WWMT-TV report a group of students spoke out against the request at a Monday night board meeting.

Consequences for displaying the flag haven’t been determined. Duits says students have been complying.

Hastings is about 40 miles southeast of Grand Rapids.