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A Wisconsin school board voted in favor of a policy banning gay pride flags and Black Lives Matter (BLM) flags from classrooms due to what school leaders say is political messaging.
"Teachers and administration will not have political flags or religious messaging in their classroom or on their person," Superintendent Stephen Plum said ahead of the vote, according to Fox 6.
The Kettle Moraine School Board voted last Tuesday in favor of keeping a code of conduct in place that the school's superintendent had interpreted as banning teachers from displaying political and religious messages in classrooms. The political messages include ones such as gay pride flags, BLM flags and "We Back the Badge" signs. Only one school board member voted against the ban, saying he made the decision after speaking with concerned students and staff.
The policy also includes banning teachers from including their preferred pronouns in email signatures.
A huge multicolored flag flies over Ocean Drive as people participate in the pride parade during the Miami Beach Pride Festival in Miami Beach, Florida, on Sept. 19, 2021. (Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images)
Plum told the school board that the district’s interpretation of the policy — which prohibits staffers from using their positions to promote partisan politics, religious views and propaganda for personal, monetary or nonmonetary gain — changed following a legal analysis.
The vote was held in a packed room last week as students and community members sounded off on the measure.
"I am not controversial. I am not political. I am a person," one student told the board, according to Fox 6.
A protester waves a Black Lives Matter flag during the demonstration in Los Angeles on April 20, 2021. (Stanton Sharpe/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
"The fact is, the majority of students don't want or need this, so catering to the minority only encourages the envelope to be pushed further," another student said.
Ahead of the vote, two high schoolers in the district established a Change.org petition calling for a reversal of the ban. The petition has garnered more than 13,000 signatures since it launched last month.
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The ACLU of Wisconsin has since issued statements slamming the vote and is currently investigating the policy.
Interior of school classroom. (iStock)
"If you have a policy that says ‘nothing political,’ does that mean you can’t have a sign up that says, ‘Support our Troops’ or ‘Believe Women’ or ‘Save the Planet?’ By some people’s definitions, all of those things are political," said Christine Donahoe, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin.
"It really looks like targeted attacks at specific viewpoints, like LGBT communities, or welcome and safe spaces to students of color," Donahoe added.
Donahoe said she is looking into the policy, as well as one that was approved by the school district in Waukesha. A teacher in Waukesha gained national attention last year when the school district suspended her after she pinned a pride flag to her classroom.
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The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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