DE PERE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Only certain flags would be allowed at De Pere school buildings without school board approval under a proposed policy.
The Unified School District of De Pere school board was set to vote on the policy at Monday night’s meeting, but tabled the discussion until their next meeting on Sept. 18.
“Why are we excluding 95 percent of community members by trying to have a flag that only represents a small percentage,” a community member said. “There should not even be a discussion.”
The policy states that each school building will display a U.S. flag outside on any day the building is open for students. Additionally, all classrooms must display a U.S. flag in a “prominent place.”
Flags for Wisconsin, the municipality where the school is located, and U.S. Military Prisoners of War-Missing in Action (POW-MIA) are also permitted outside of buildings.
A packed room of community members shared their thoughts before the board.
“What else could this be besides another attempt to tell LGBT students and staff that they should not have the right to exist in public?” Erica Stindt said.
“The school district should be all inclusive and only put up flags that include everyone,” George Lucia said. “The American flag, the Wisconsin state flag are two examples of the type of flag that you should be thinking about.”
The policy states U.S. flags must be displayed outside each building and inside all classrooms. Additionally, Wisconsin flags, flags for certain municipalities and U.S. military prisoners of war flags are all permitted. Some in attendance argued those are the only flags necessary.
“We are all Americans. Public school displays outside of the US flag to represent various political movements, religions or other ideologies are completely inappropriate in a public education setting,” Tamara Gasparick said.
The majority of the debate centered around the pride flag, which those on the one side say helps more people feel seen.
“The presence of safe space signs and pride flags signify that every corner of our school is welcoming for all students regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” Georjeanna Wilson-Doenges said.
