Grant Berardo wore his navy blue "TRUMP Make America Great Again" T-shirt to picture day last fall at Wall Township High School.

Nobody told him not to. And since he is only a junior, there was no picture-day dress code.

The proofs came back, with the picture the way he posed for it, Trump shirt and all. His picture day image is also used on the electronic student ID system, with Trump intact.

So far, so good.

Then the yearbook came out on Wednesday and Grant's navy Trump shirt was now blacked-out.

The kid wearing the Led Zeppelin shirt wasn't photoshopped. Nor was the kid wearing an Alice Cooper shirt, or the kid with the Super Mario Brothers shirt. Or any of the kids wearing college shirts, apparel logos, athletic company tees, and all the other stuff kids wear.

Only "TRUMP Make America Great Again."

And Berardo wasn't the only Trump supporter censored. A junior classmate's Trump shirt was also blacked out, and the sister of that boy, the freshman class president, noticed that the Trump quote she had selected to appear under her picture was gone.

"We're very angry," said Janet Dobrovich-Fago, the mother of the other two students. "When we saw that Montana's (her daughter's) quote dropped out, we thought it was a mistake because all the other class presidents' quotes were still there. But when we saw that Wyatt's (her son's) shirt was photoshopped and we heard about Grant, I knew this was not a coincidence. This was purposeful and it's wrong."

MORE: Recent Mark Di Ionno columns

"We didn't have a dress code," said Grant, 17, a member of the National Honor Society who also plays lacrosse, will play football this fall and is in the finance and ski clubs. "The seniors (boys) have to wear black jackets and ties, but the underclassmen don't have a dress code."

So, what happened?

Wall superintendent Cheryl Dyer sent a letter out to parents after the story appeared in this space Friday afternoon, saying she was "investigating an allegation of censorship and the possible violation of First Amendment rights in the high school yearbook this year.

"Two parents have made me aware ... the attire of their children was altered and that comments or quotes were not published," the letter said. "In all of the instances that I am aware of, references to and support of President Trump were removed.

"There is nothing in our student dress code that would prevent a student from expressing his or her political views and support for a candidate for political office via appropriate clothing. Rather, I applaud students for becoming involved in politics and for participation in our democratic society," the letter said. "The high school administration was not aware of and does not condone any censorship of political views on the part of our students ... The actions of the staff involved will be addressed as soon as the investigation is concluded."

The other parent who complained was Joe Berardo, who also isn't happy that his son's picture was censored.

"I don't like the way we have to tip-toe around political correctness," he said. "It gets in the way of meaningful discourse. And, frankly, I hate being on the other side of it now."

By that he means being cast in the role of the victim, or the easily-offended, hyper-sensitive injured party.

Berardo, 51, is not the kind of guy looking to be offended. He's a Jersey guy, a Rutgers graduate. He's had two other kids graduate from Wall, and hires interns from the finance club.

"I've been very happy with the Wall School system," he said. "That's why we're here, paying the taxes."

He's a successful business man, the CEO of Concordia Care, which manages health plans dealing with mental illness, drug and alcohol addiction and catastrophic injury. He's on the Board of Directors of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and he financed -- and his kids designed and helped build - the teen game room at Make-A-Wish Castle in Monroe Township.

He's a busy guy, not looking to pick a fight with the school system, he said.

"But this is egregious. This is a free speech issue. And if we come to find out they blacked-out Clinton or Sanders shirts, that's just as egregious.

"We're not zealots," he said. "We spoke about him wearing the shirt. He made a thoughtful decision to memorialize what was going on during the election. And at no point, did anyone tell him not to."

More confounding to Grant Berardo is that his mother, Tammy, works at the school.

"If there was a problem, somebody could have just told my mom," he said. "They had a re-take day. But no one said anything."

Grant said he wore the shirt because it was a "historic" statement. His father has named all his kids after United States presidents, so he grew up with a strong sense of Americanism.

"I thought it was pretty cool that this guy (Trump) was running for president," Grant said.

He collected Trump shirts like most kids collect tees of their favorites teams or bands. He has five.

"He wears them a lot. He wore one to a Billy Joel concert a few weeks ago," his father said.

Grant said when the yearbook came out he thought it was "kind of stupid that they censored it. I mean, he is our president. He's the president of the United States. How is that offensive?"

He contacted his father right away.

"What I would expect from teachers is fair and unbiased instruction and discourse," Joe Berardo said. "To discuss the pros and cons of politic positions, and encourage the free flow of ideas from both sides.

"This (censoring the picture) doesn't say that," he said. "This says there is an agenda at work."

"You can tell most teachers are liberals," his son added.

Joe Berardo is asking for an apology and a re-issue of the book.

"There should also be consequences for the teacher who made the decision, if that's, in fact, what happened," he said. "And the school district should hold a public meeting to own up to it and discuss it.

"This is far from over."

Mark Di Ionno may be reached at mdiionno@starledger.com. Follow The Star-Ledger on Twitter @StarLedger and find us on Facebook.