Five students who raised the Mexican flag at Austin High School in Houston last month pleaded not guilty Monday to a misdemeanor charge of disrupting class, their lawyer said.

AP

Attorney Jason Castañeda said the five students, all current or former members of the school’s Reserve Officers Training Corps, are scheduled to appear in Houston Municipal Court on May 2. He said each student faces a $200 fine for the Class C misdemeanor citation, but no jail time.

The teenagers raised the Mexican flag on the morning of Sept. 15, the eve of Mexico’s Independence Day, to show pride in their heritage and culture, Castañeda said. School officials spotted the flag, told them to take it down, and called Houston Independent School District officers.

The tickets issued to the students accused them of “causing a disturbance by hanging the Mexican flag on the American flagpole.”

HISD spokesman Terry Abbott said the five were not cited for the act of hoisting the flag, but because they walked out of class and disrupted outdoor lessons. Abbott declined comment on the students’ pleas.

The students did not appear in court Monday and their lawyer entered the pleas on their behalf.

Carlos Lopez, 18, said he and his friends plan to fight the misdemeanor citations. The four other students ticketed were identified as: Jesus Rodriguez, Rafael Rodriguez, Alonso Uribe and Norberto Garcia.

“Maybe we offended some people, but that wasn’t the intention,” Lopez said. “It was to show that we’re proud of who we are and where we came from.”

About 96 percent of the students at Austin High School are Hispanic, according to the Texas Education Agency.