Sonoma Valley was right to end one cause’s year-round claim on the school flagpole
Parents should watch as teachers hope incoming trustees will revisit the policy in December, testing whether one neutral rule will govern every symbolic flag.
Sonoma Valley’s school board was right to put every cause under one rule for its high school flagpole. The New York Post reported that dozens of students walked out on Oct. 13 to protest the policy, and that the school’s Gender & Sexualities Alliance organized the demonstration.
At its Oct. 8 meeting, the Sonoma Valley Unified School District board voted 3-2 to require board approval for symbolic flags and limit them to specific awareness months, the Sonoma Index-Tribune reported. Board President David Bell and trustees Catarina Landry and Jason Lehman voted yes; trustees Anne Ching and Gerardo Guzman dissented. Student representative Austin Cheeseman objected that “a policy that excludes the students’ input, initiative and incorporation was passed.” He said the policy "unequivocally sends out a message to this community that is against student power, voice and the welcoming nature of the campus1." The board rejected an alternative that would have let students, staff and local organizations propose flags. Lehman said he researched flag policies in more than 60 Napa and Sonoma school districts and found only one with a policy similar to the rejected alternative; he also said San Francisco Unified flies a Pride flag in April, but not throughout the year.
One flag flew without a process for others
Students first raised the Progress Pride flag at the high school in 2019, the Sonoma Valley Sun reported. Bell said the flag went up without a process for other groups to seek the same display: “When the flag went up in 2019, no process was created for any other group to apply.”2 His verdict: "What was called inclusion became, in practice, exclusion of all but one group1."
Bell had the flag taken down on Jan. 16, and it went back up on Jan. 20 after public outcry2. Rather than settle the matter by decree, he called for a districtwide flag policy, the Sonoma Index-Tribune reported1. In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that Boston violated the First Amendment when it refused to let a private group fly a Christian flag at City Hall. A public flagpole that flies one cause by default invites that fight, and Bell's board answered it with a rule.
- 2019Students first raised the Progress Pride flag at the high school
- Jan. 16Bell directed that the flag be taken down
- Jan. 20The flag went back up after public outcry
- Oct. 8The board adopted its flag policy
- Oct. 13Dozens of students walked out to protest the policy
- DecemberA new board takes office, and teachers hope it will revisit the policy
The policy leaves room for Pride Month
Under the policy, the board must approve symbolic flags or banners, and they can fly only during specific awareness months1. American and California flags must fly during the academic day, and schools may display their own flags. Pride flags can still be approved for occasions such as Pride Month3.
Bell named other displays the same process could handle, from a Future Farmers of America flag to a Mexican flag for Cinco de Mayo or a banner for an undefeated team, the Post reported3. Lehman recommended that the superintendent and policy ad hoc community consider designating a Pride Month at the high school. Lehman also pointed to San Francisco Unified’s schedule1. Every cause now works from the same calendar.
Student input does not replace board authority
GSA President Madeleine Edwards gave the walkout's best case to the Sonoma Sun, as quoted by the Post: "growing up queer, there’s this assumption that you might not belong in every new room you walk into3." Every student belongs at school, and Principal Molly Kiss said the school's wellness center and counselors remained available to students2.
The alternative the board rejected would have handed the decision to students: under it, the student Slate would have made the final call on proposed flags. Ching and Guzman voted for it; Bell, Landry and Lehman defeated it1. Lehman’s research underscored how unusual it would be to hand final authority over displays to students.
Parents should defend the policy in December
The Valley of the Moon Teachers Association wants the policy undone. Co-presidents Laura Hoban and Shellie Ryan said "we believe those closest to our students should be trusted to make decisions about their school culture." They also named their target: "With a new board taking office in December, we are hopeful this new policy will be short-lived and that the incoming trustees will revisit the decision1."
The people closest to Sonoma Valley's students are their parents, and parents act on school policy through the trustees they elect. Bell put the standard plainly after the vote: "Our job as trustees is to represent all students equally2."
When the new board takes office in December, parents should ask each trustee for a yes or no. Will you keep board approval for every symbolic flag? Will you keep the awareness-month limit for every cause? Will you vote against restoring a permanent spot for any one flag?
Sources
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