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“I’ll be honest, the turnout on the 11th worried me. even though we worked to get people there, the room didn’t reflect the effort or the stakes. This board reads a quiet room as permission. An empty seat tells them the heat is off.” A concerned citizen
Here is an excerpt from the Sonoma Index Tribune about the outcome of the School Board meeting held June 11. For the full story by Daniel Johnson of the SIT, go here:
Flag practices spark lively exchange among Sonoma Valley Unified trustees
” Discussions about revising flag-posting protocols at Sonoma Valley High School proved very lively Thursday, June 11, during the Sonoma Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting, where it became apparent achieving a board consensus on this topic will be challenging. “I was hoping that there would be a consensus, but I also expected that the board would need more time,” said Jason Sutter, superintendent of the district. “So, I wasn’t surprised, and it isn’t a negative thing. I’m glad that the board won’t make a hasty decision because there were some very different opinions shared in a way that was civil and productive.”
He presented four possible options: Maintain the current practice of flying the U.S., California, progress pride and school flags continuously; Limit flag displays to the U.S. and California flags and remove all other flags from the campus flagpoles; Fly the U.S., California and school flags permanently while designating a fourth flagpole for approved symbolic or commemorative flags that rotate on an established schedule; Assign a specific, named purpose — federal, state, symbolic and school — to each of the four existing flagpoles. The progressive pride flag would remain the primary flag on the symbolic flagpole, with any additional symbolic flags flown alongside it on the pole. The school flag would remain the primary flag on the school flagpole, with and school group flags flown alongside it on the pole.
Sutter recommended option No. 4. “This approach respects the history of the current flag display while establishing a fair and inclusive process for additional student groups and interests to be represented,” he said. “It avoids a zero-sum decision where one group’s recognition comes at the expense of another’s.” Trustees will continue the discussion at their meeting on Thursday, June 18, at 5:00 p.m. at the school district offices at 17850 Railroad Ave. in Sonoma with public comment opportunities up front. Although there will be no vote yet, we need to be visible and steady with our feelings.
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Your presence on Thursday June 18 matters, and the whole summer matters even more. The board goes dark in July, so the summer task is keeping this loud where they can’t miss it:
Emails and letters to trustees, letters to the editor, steady visibility. Then we show up in force when they’re back in late August and carry it straight through to the fall vote. The pressure can’t relent. It just changes shape over the summer.
Send emails to let them know how you feel to:
David Bell - dbell.trustee@sonomaschools.org
Catarina Landry - clandry.trustee@sonomaschools.org
Anne Ching - aching.trustee@sonomaschools.org
Gerardo Guzman - gguzman.trustee@sonomaschools.org
Jason Lehman - jlehman.trustee@sonomaschools.org
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