Backlash Follows End Of Pride Flag Display

SONOMA VALLEY, CA—Sonoma Valley school trustees ended the daily display of the Progress Pride flag at Sonoma Valley High School, voting 3-2 Thursday to restrict symbolic flags and banners to specific awareness months.

The Sonoma Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees approved the policy at the Oct. 8 Sonoma City Chambers.

Board President David Bell and trustees Catarina Landry and Jason Lehman supported it. Trustees Anne Ching and Gerardo Guzman opposed it, according to reports.

The policy requires board approval for symbolic flags or banners and limits their display to designated awareness months, the Sun-Index reported.

Every district school must fly the U.S. and California flags during school days at its entrance or on its grounds. Schools may also fly their school flags.

“Our job as trustees is to represent all students equally, a principle that runs throughout our board philosophy policy,” Bell said at the meeting, according to reports.

“When the flag went up in 2019, no process was created for any other group to apply. What was called inclusion became, in practice, exclusion of all but one group.”

The decision follows months of objections from students, school employees, parents, and community advocates who argued that the flag signals safety and belonging for LGBTQIA+ students.

The dispute began in January when Bell ordered the flag removed from the high school, where it had flown since 2019. Community protests prompted the district to restore it four days later.

Bell apologized in an open letter after the removal, saying his concern centered on whether the Pride flag should be the only flag representing a group displayed at the school. He said a comment questioning why other groups lacked representation had prompted his decision.

Bell said he personally supported the flag and wanted a broader board discussion about campus displays.

High school employees challenged his handling of the dispute in a Jan. 22 letter. Staff members criticized reports that Bell had shifted responsibility for the removal to Principal Molly Kiss and warned trustees against disrupting school leadership.

“We will not accept a return to instability from avoidable governance failures,” the staff letter stated.

Students and community members subsequently formed a Pride flag advocacy group to press for permanent display.

Wake UP Sonoma supported that effort and called for employee training and enforcement of district anti-harassment and anti-bullying policies. The organization argued that the flag provides a visible message of support for LGBTQIA+ students.

Superintendent Jason Sutter developed competing policies after trustees reviewed campus flag history, student input, survey results, and possible rules in June. Trustees directed him to refine two options with district administrators, high school officials, and legal counsel.

One proposal would have reserved the school’s fourth flagpole for rotating symbolic displays, with students recommending display periods and trustees granting approval. The other would have kept the Progress Pride flag on a dedicated symbolic pole and allowed additional approved flags beneath it.

Both proposals would have allowed students, employees, and school organizations to submit requests to the principal. Student leaders would have considered each flag’s connection to the school, educational or commemorative purpose, proposed display period, funding source, and consistency with district policies.

Trustees postponed their decision Sept. 10 after students and parents urged them to preserve the flag as a symbol of safety and belonging, the Sonoma Valley Sun reported.

Student representative Austin Cheeseman advocated giving students authority over symbolic flag choices. The board carried the issue forward to its Oct. 8 meeting, the Sun reported.