Sunol Glen School bans special interest flags on school property at tense meeting
SUNOL — Dozens of protesters showed up in front of the Sunol Glen School in Sunol Tuesday night ahead of a controversial vote on whether to ban special interest flags on school property.
The board voted in favor of the ban with two board members voting yes and one voting no.
Opponents of the ban said it's all in response to a rainbow pride flag being flown at the school in June during Pride Month.
"This school is our community, like this school is Sunol," said Erin Choin as she gestured toward the school, originally built in 1925.
"We have the Sunol Repertory Theater that performs in this school. We have Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, 4H. I mean, every civic activity goes through this school," she said.
Choin lives in Sunol and has three children who attend the public school that goes from preschool through 8th grade. That's why she was so disappointed when she heard about the school board proposal to ban all special interest flags on school grounds.
"When we show symbols of inclusion where everybody belongs and you can be who you are, especially at this formative age for children, then we feel like it's a safe environment to be in," said Choin.
That's why she and other parents, including Diana Rohini LaVigne, formed the group "Sunol Glen 4 All" to protest some of the new policies discussed at recent board meetings.
"We really need to show the support that Sunol Glen is inclusive, and really make that statement so we can make sure that no longer will we see these conservative-leaning policies," said LaVigne.
Opponents said this all started in June during Pride month when a rainbow Pride flag was flown on the main flag pole. They say a month later the board president, Ryan Jergensen, proposed a ban on all special interest flags.
Jergensen refused a KPIX request for an interview but did send a copy of an open letter he wrote to the Sunol community supporting the flag ban.
In that letter, he wrote, "Schools need to be a place of inclusion, where all students are safe. My concern is that when a school starts endorsing any particular view that can be divisive, then the school is failing its mission. The District should not be seen as endorsing one view over another."
"I see this as part of the national culture wars that are being brought to the local communities," said Ted Romo, who is one of the three school board members.
"The school is designed to be an inclusive place for all students and this resolution will effectively make it not that," says Romo.
A number of Sunol residents told KPIX they support the flag ban, but did not want to talk with us on camera for fear of being labeled or judged by their neighbors.
The only flags now allowed to be displayed on Sunol Glen School property are the US flag and the California state flag.