Stoughton college students and oldsters protest delight flag ban in colleges

STOUGHTON – Exterior of the bi-weekly Stoughton Faculty Committee assembly Tuesday, a gaggle of over 100 mother and father, college students, and a few school gathered to protest a brand new coverage instituted by the superintendent this 12 months. The coverage bans all flags in school rooms aside from American flags, together with delight flags and “Black Lives Matter” flags.

“I made the choice to maintain all of our school rooms impartial studying environments freed from any gadgets similar to flags, posters, or supplies which are unrelated to the curriculum,” a letter to households from Superintendent Thomas Raab reads. “To be able to be constant throughout the district, there was no method to permit one kind of flag or poster with out permitting others. This expectation was not targeted on any specific group and was not motivated by politics or private beliefs.”

College students, led by senior Olivia Tran, have began a petition to encourage the superintendent to eliminate the ban. Tran is bisexual and says concerning LGBTQ+ college students as not “impartial” to the tutorial surroundings erases their id. “Individuals in these communities, they aren’t completely different from different individuals,” she advised WBZ. “We’re all individuals and supporting these communities would not make any person not impartial.”

Some school members have been reprimanded for ignoring the ban, Tran says. She was suspended from faculty for strolling out of sophistication in protest of the ban, or for inflicting a disruption, as she was advised.

On the faculty committee assembly Tuesday, the ban was not on the agenda, nevertheless it consumed your entire public remark part. About 20 individuals poured into the tiny faculty committee room with dozens extra filling the halls. Olivia Tran spoke, and so did three adults in assist of the coverage.

“It isn’t the faculties’ job to painting, various existence, or assist actions with a flag in a tutorial setting,” one mom mentioned.

An area rabbi took the microphone subsequent, calling Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ individuals anarchists to the college committee. “They burn, they loot, they sexualize our youngsters and trigger violence towards anybody who will not be them,” he mentioned.

That very same rabbi was in a heated alternate with Olivia Tran’s mom outdoors of the assembly earlier than it started, criticizing mother and father for not educating their youngsters abstinence and for “sexualizing” them.

Contained in the assembly, faculty committee members expressed frustration that the superintendent made this determination with out first operating it by them.

Nevertheless, Superintendent Raab mentioned he has no plans to vary the ban, emphasizing that classroom doorways have been given “ally” stickers and academics given “ally” necklaces rather than flags to indicate assist for LGBTQ college students.