Schools in Johnston County – home to North Carolina towns like Smithfield, Clayton and Benson, among others – may soon see a crackdown on LGBTQ+ protections through a few revisions set to go up for vote this summer. The same set of policy changes could also eliminate pride flags from all school buildings.
The Johnston County School Board is considering a set of agenda items that come from prior LGBTQ+ related complaints made by parents and students in the school system and by a few of the board members themselves, as reported on by Raleigh News and Observer.
In one of the changes, the board is considering revising the policy on the distribution and display of non-school material, in addition in seeking the removal of the Pride flag from all school buildings, inside and out.
The revised policy says “principals and teachers will limit displays such as signs and flags in schools and classrooms there to only display materials that represent the United States, the state of North Carolina, Johnston County, the school name, mascot, post-secondary institutions, school sponsored events, sponsorships, military flags, family photos, student art and or the approved curriculum.”
Citing complaints about some teachers having pride flags in their classrooms by parents, Board member and chair of the Policy Committee Kevin Donovan said he was told pride flags are becoming a distraction in the classroom. He also stated that some students have raised similar issues. “We are supposed to be student centered, all students. So take it all out and just focus on the curriculum, that’s it,” Donovan said.
“Students are a captive audience within a classroom.” said Board Chair Lynn Andrews. “They don’t have a choice, and we’re just trying to make sure that our focus is the main thing.”
A few members on the board were more outspoken in their comments. Board member Michelle Antoine, referencing a bill that passed the NC House that bans all but official government flags from flying on government property, including schools, said that the wording was added to the district policy because of the “objectionable” things that some teachers display in their classroom to promote personal agendas.
Board member April Lee questioned Antoine’s comment concerning agendas, who confirmed it was the display of pride flags, that they were not curriculum related, and could lead to values in students that parents could have a problem with.
Lee pushed back on Antoine’s round of comments, arguing that the display of the Pride flag is a way for teachers to let LGBTQ students know that they’ll be respected for who they are in that classroom.
“We have teachers who have different views about that, and if they choose not to have it up, that’s fine,” Lee said, “but nobody’s actively trying to teach a kid how to be gay by putting up a pride flag.”
In addition to the removal of Pride flags, the board is also considering removing sexual orientation and gender identity from its policies on cyber bullying, discrimination and employee hiring. The original proposal on the term removals came last March, around the time that DEI purges were happening in the federal government by orders from the Trump administration. A vote on the issue had been tabled since then, only to come back in a new, yet more sanitized version of the previous version.
The updated policies no longer lists any specific group as being protected against discrimination, including race, color, religion and ancestry. In their place, the policies would include a hyperlink to a state statute on school bullying. The state statute does mention specific groups, including sexual orientation and gender identity.
“What is a gender identity?” Antoine said at the meeting, “I don’t know. I have no idea what a gender identity is. I know there are two genders. I mean, you just want to get down to brass tacks.”
Antoine added that the change is needed due to the Trump administration’s threat to cut federal funding from schools that promote diversity, equity and inclusion. “We are trying to comply with the federal mandate from the executive order and not lose federal funding and also comply with the state mandate of the statute.” Antoine said this policy does both things.
The board’s non-Republican members have urged their colleagues to hold off on the policy changes. “My concern is we are setting ourselves up,” said Carroll. “We’re digging ourselves in a hole for a whole lot of issues, accusing teachers of pushing personal agendas.
Of those on the school board, a majority of members identify as Republicans, and there’s a bill in the legislature to make the elections partisan, to try to increase GOP control. Johnston is North Carolina’s seventh largest school district, with 37,000 students.