Atascadero community packs meeting to support teacher flying Pride flag in her classroom
Dozens of community members turned out at Atascadero’s school board meeting on Tuesday to show their support for a teacher flying the LGBTQ+ Pride flag in her classroom.
The Atascadero Unified School District has fought misinformation in recent days regarding an incident involving an Atascadero Middle School teacher displaying the rainbow flag in her classroom.
During the first two days of school Monday and Tuesday, a flurry of social media posts claimed that the middle school principal required the teacher to take down the Pride flag and that the district was planning to discipline her for showing support to the LGBTQ+ community. The posts claimed that some students were reportedly concerned about the flag.
The confusion led to a swift social media campaign by the Gala Pride and Diversity Center in San Luis Obispo.
The organization posted on Instagram and Facebook Tuesday to encourage community members to show up to the Tuesday school board meeting and speak in support of the teacher flying the Pride flag in her classroom.
Attendees were surprised, however, when Atascadero Unified Superintendent Tom Butler gave brief remarks at the beginning of the meeting to clear any confusion.
“First and foremost, there’s no discipline; there’s no evaluative process happening with the teacher,” Butler said. “There was no directive to do anything with the material.”
“This district has a deep commitment to every parent: We want to see your students succeed to the greatest level they can,” Butler continued. “We have goals behind us about respecting, valuing, working together, collaborating, giving our best effort at all times. That includes involving everyone in our district.”
The sixth-grade teacher who hung the Pride flag, Jen Pence, was not directed to take down the flag by the school district, according to Butler.
Community members show support for LGBTQ+ Pride flags displayed in classrooms
Regardless of Butler’s clarifying statements, many community members gave public comment for more than two hours on Tuesday evening.
The majority of speakers showed support for the LGBTQ+ Pride flag being displaying in classrooms.
Cheri Roben, a teacher at Monterey Road Elementary School in Atascadero, came out as gay for the first time publicly at the meeting with her wife in attendance.
She said during her comments that she’d been in the closet for 26 years — afraid to be open about her sexuality for fear of harassment, intimidation and bullying from the school district and community.
“What (Jen Pence) did meant something to me, enough for me to come here and reveal myself,” Roben said during the Tuesday meeting. “If that flag had been in a classroom when I was a student, or my wife or my two queer children, I cannot express to you what that would have meant to me to see that and know that I didn’t have to be afraid of somebody screaming at me across the quad. ... So you may think what you do about that flag, but you have no idea what it really means. It means that I don’t have to be afraid.”
A junior at Atascadero High School, Keith Kania, said during the meeting that homophobia is “by far the biggest issue I’ve seen at our high school.”
He noted that the school district has taken strides toward improving inclusivity at schools, including by the “establishment of an LGBT club and comprehensive sex education that teaches about heterosexual and homosexual relationships.”
“We need to remember that displaying an LGBT flag is not just a symbol of acceptance and inclusivity. It reminds every student that the schools of our districts are a haven where they can be their true selves without fear,” Kania said. “Rather than diminishing our students, it would be significantly more beneficial for our district to embrace (the Pride flag’s) presence in not just one classroom, but all classrooms. ... This shows the importance of acceptance of all persons on campus and acts as a unifying symbol of our stance against bigotry and hate, but rather in favor of unity and understanding.”
Few speakers concerned about Pride flag
One speaker during the meeting said he was concerned that the LGBTQ+ Pride flag being flown in a classroom could influence children, which he disagreed with.
Another, Krista Stewart, said she thought the only flag that should be flown in classrooms is the American flag.
Stewart added that she hopes “there’s a policy in place” regarding flying flags in Atascadero school classrooms.
She may have been referencing the policy change that occurred in the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District after a teacher at the high school displayed a Pride flag that then got torn down and defecated on in a toilet by a student.
After the hateful September 2021 incident, which later made international headlines, the school district implemented a policy that limited flags flown in classrooms to 2 feet by 2 feet in size.
The new Paso Robles policy sparked outrage by the community, and students organized a “Coming Out Against Hate” event where they shared stories of LGBTQ+ hate they’d experienced and demanded the school district do better for queer youth. Hundreds of people showed up to the October 2021 event, and the school district later formed a task force to improve conditions for LGBTQ+ students.
Atascadero Superintendent Butler told The Tribune before the Tuesday evening meeting that all dialogue from community members regarding the Pride flag in Atascadero schools was welcome.
He also reiterated the school district’s commitment in supporting Pence for displaying the LGBTQ+ Pride flag.
“She’s a very strong teacher,” he said. “We want everyone to feel welcome and supported at our schools.”
