An Indiana school board received a complaint from one parent about an LGBTQ pride flag hanging in an 8th grade classroom, and has obtained legal counsel after deeming it “controversial.”
The Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan School District will hold a meeting for parents Tuesday night as it takes input before developing a new policy on how to deal with what it is calling “controversial material.”
“I spoke with that parent in regards to their concerns and notified them that we need to get some legal advice in regards to the legality of the situation,” District Superintendent Dr. Brad Yates said in a note to families, WANE reports. “Then I was able to get back with them and say that we were working to develop a policy is what our plan would be. But right now it would be permissible for that [flag] to be displayed in the classroom.”
Dr. Yates in a letter posted to Facebook (below, but since removed from Facebook) adds the “goal of the board is to develop a policy to clearly identify topics considered controversial and outline the buildings or grade levels in which controversial topics would not be permitted.”
In an interview with WANE Yates suggested Tuesday night’s meeting is part of a “legal process.”
UPDATE: Indiana Students Urge School Board to Keep LGBTQ Pride Flag But District Labels It ‘Indoctrination’
Comments on the school’s Facebook post largely appeared to be in favor of allowing the flag to remain, and parents who oppose it were widely challenged. But some commenters asked for parents to attend Tuesday’s meeting to support the teacher who hung the flag, and others appeared to suggest what prompted hanging the flag was a student being bullied.
Image by Gallant’s Photography via Flickr and a CC license