In (U.S.) flags we trust: Miami-Dade School Board to get strict on flags in classrooms

The three new faces on the Miami-Dade County School Board have already joined the wall of framed photo portraits at the entrance to the board’s building a few blocks from Miami’s Bayside.

It’s not out of the ordinary for the portraits to change, but this year it signifies something different: the new members, two elected and one appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, helped flip the once-blue board red thanks to a statewide conservative wave and the actions of local conservative activists. 

This week, they made their first strike.

The school board voted unanimously to allocate district resources to make sure every public school classroom is displaying the American flag and state motto, “In God We Trust,” in accordance with state law. The vote means looking into whether flags could be deemed ideological or political, which potentially may include Pride flags and Black Lives Matter flags.

It marks a trend of similar antagonisms against movement and affinity flags by conservative-controlled school boards across the country. Relatedly, the parent of a seventh-grade student sued the Palm Beach County School Board, demanding two LGBTQ+ pride flags be removed from his son's classroom. He claimed the teacher was "proselytizing" to computer science students about homosexuality, the Palm Beach Post recently reported.

Previous story – Taking a pass on Pride flags in classrooms?

The approved agenda item was put forward by the newly-elected Roberto Alonso and co-sponsored by all four conservative members of the board. It received unanimous support after receiving an amendment from Board Member Steve Gallon that mentioned a school board policy about promoting an environment of cultural diversity and following federal protections, which could be interpreted to protect teachers displaying flags of, for example, countries they identify with.

Prior to the vote, 14 parents, union representatives and leaders in LGTBQ advocacy groups spoke out against it. Those there to speak against it overwhelmingly supported the American flag section, but criticized the limit on other flags, arguing it sought to stifle displays that were not political, but part of teacher’s identities.

Before they spoke during public comment, they passed around miniature flags of several different countries. Karla Hernández-Mats, the president of the United Teachers of Dade and most recently Charlie Crist’s running mate, wore a bright red outfit and an American flag cowboy hat to speak against the proposal.

“It is our hope that censoring teacher autonomy and removing cultural identities from our classroom is not the priority of our school board,” she said. “The essence of this item seems less patriotic, and more political, as it attempts to further polarize our classrooms.”

Maxx Fenning, president of the South Florida LGTBQ advocacy group PRISM, said displaying Pride flags in schools isn’t political but instead provides a beacon to LGTBQ students to know where they are safe at school. “You will never understand what it is like to have to analyze the minutiae of your teachers’ verbiage around a specific topic to glean whether or not they will be the perpetrator of an attack against you for something you cannot change, or your saving grace for those attacks (that) inevitably come from someone else,” Fenning said.

One person did speak in favor of the entire motion: A representative of County Citizens for Defending Freedom, whose organization pledged to donate 200 American flags to the district during public comment. After public comment, school board members discussed for over an hour the impact of the agenda item on displays of identities, whether it be another nation’s flag or flags belonging to sports teams, which ultimately resulted in the amendment. 

Gallon cited a school board policy that states that the district is “committed to equity in education for all students and to providing a learning environment that reflects the cultures, the traditions, the customs and the historic legacies that comprise the district's population,” adding “trees cannot be divorced from their roots.” Alonso said the purpose of his agenda item was to not be divisive, but to bring students closer together.

“My item is not to create hate. It is quite the opposite. My item is to create unity as this board continues to unify itself, and not having any divisions within our classrooms,” he said. “I am proud to be in Miami. You know why? Because it doesn’t matter what color you are, what country you came from, what your sexual orientation is. We all live together in harmony.”

Despite the amendment and the discussion, no member addressed concerns raised about how it would affect displays of the Pride flag specifically, but one part of the amendment reaffirms that the district must follow federally allowed guidelines. 

Amy Donofrio, a former Duval County Schools teacher, settled a federal lawsuit for $300,000 with her district for alleged retaliation because, she said, she displayed a Black Lives Matter flag. One public commenter mentioned that lawsuit, alluding it could be in the district’s future.

“Districts that have restricted certain flags they deem political have ended up in court battles and lost,” the speaker said. “Our teachers want to be able to do their job without school board members trying to make their classrooms political.”