RUPERT - What started as an altercation between a teacher and student at Minico High School Monday sparked a full-blown national controversy on Wednesday.

About 50 Minico High students responded to a radio commentator's call to action and wore Mexican paraphernalia in a silent show of support for Froylan Camelo.

The 16-year-old Latino student has accused a teacher of disrespecting a Mexican flag he brought to school Monday to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, and of making racist comments on other occasions.

The silent protest sparked an early-afternoon counter-demonstration by 10 students who waved American flags in hallways and around the school, but the day otherwise passed without incident.

Gina Rodriguez, a Minico 10th-grader who joined the silent protest encouraged by Spanish-language radio station KFTA-AM, said the issue is clear: "Even though we're in another country, they should respect our traditions."

But Rodriguez said racial tension at her school is rare.

"Minico isn't like this," she said.

Minidoka County Schools Super-intendent Scott Rogers said a recent decision to trim the district's English as a Second Language program may have been a contributing factor in the incident, and that the national debate over immigration helped make it a topic of discussion on regional and national broadcast talk shows.

Rogers said he received calls from across the country from supporters of the student and from those backing the teacher.

"I don't think there's a hero here," Rogers said. "I don't think it's about racism, it's about politics."

Rogers said he hopes the incident doesn't hurt efforts to help students get along.

"Are we 100 percent there yet? No. But incidents like this erase all the good we've done," he said.

Rogers said the instructor, Clint Straatman, was within his rights to take away an item that was disrupting his PE class, but said the teacher mishandled the situation by throwing away the flag. He said instructors have to be careful when dealing with anyone's property, especially items of symbolic importance to the student.

Straatman said Tuesday that he took the small flag from Camelo because he feared it would incite "white kids" in the school gym and start a fight. He told the Times-News that he had no pockets, so he put it in a garbage can for safekeeping.

Camelo told the newspaper that Straatman berated him about the flag and has in the past made disparaging remarks about Latino students - which Straatman denies.

Rogers said he is awaiting a full incident report, due Thursday morning, before deciding on any disciplinary action.

"We certainly are not trying to sweep this under the rug. We are trying to respond appropriately," he said.

Straatman is no stranger to controversy. He resigned as girls' basketball coach in February after complaints about angry on-court outbursts.

Rogers said he has no problem apologizing for the Monday incident, but said it would mean more coming from a different source.

"I don't know if the apology needs to come from the district. It needs to come from the teacher," he said.

Ben Reed, the KFTA-AM personality who called for the silent protest, said he agrees that an apology from Straatman may be in order.

The flag incident quickly became a topic on Reed's station, which has been an outlet for the frustrations of the area's large Latino population.

"There is a lot of racial tension in the area," Reed said. "I have seen it escalate the past couple years and it's reaching a fever pitch.

"I'm glad to see it (Camelo's story) has gone national," Reed said. "I think it's time we really take a look at ourselves in the mirror."

Reed was also center stage two months ago, when the Latino community reacted with anger at a school board decision to eliminate an English as a Second Language staff position at Minico High. The board cited declining enrollment and the loss of funding for staff.

The program cut was a factor again this week when ESL teacher Dan Luker, who has resigned rather than be assigned elsewhere, heard about the flag incident and responded by desecrating an American flag in the office of a school administrator on Tuesday.

Luker appeared on Reed's program Wednesday to apologize for stepping on the flag.

He has been suspended for the remainder of the school year, which ends May 22.

Reed said Latino students look up to Luker.

"As far as I know, Mr. Luker is one fantastic person," Reed said. "He cares (for these kids). He has stood up for these kids. It legitimately pains him to see his students go through such an awful situation."

Reed said cutting ESL is just one of many incidents that have left Latinos feeling they have not had a fair shake.

Rogers said that while he hopes tensions cool in the next few days, there is a lesson to be taken from the incident.

"I'm not saying you ignore or stick your head in the sand," he said. "We'll use this as a learning tool."

Staff writers Cassidy Friedman, Sven Berg, Laurie Welch and Zach Kyle contributed to this report.