An Ohio school board will meet Thursday evening to discuss a controversial policy that would require teachers to take down most posters, flags and other displays that aren’t directly related to their class curriculum.
Little Miami Local Schools serves more than 5,200 students in Warren County. David Wallace, a school board member who supports the policy, said at a December school board meeting that teachers would still be able to display family photos on their desks and motivational posters on their walls, but said “materials in the classroom should reinforce the subject being taught” instead of influencing students “on social, political or sexual issues.”
More: Ohio school board considers restricting posters, flags at schools. 600 object in petition
The board will not vote on the policy Thursday. Instead, members will entertain a motion to add the policy to their next January business meeting for approval.
About 800 people have signed an online petition against the policy and about 20 people spoke about the proposed policy when it was first introduced at a school board meeting in December. Community members on both sides of the issue spoke, including Wayne Lyke, teachers’ union president. He said the policy “is bad for students, bad for teachers and generally bad for the district.”
Teachers express their personalities through classroom decorations, Lyke said. If the policy passes and those decorations are taken down, it would “create a sterile, institutional environment that will make students less comfortable in the classroom and negatively impact the educational process.”
What does the policy say?
If the policy is approved, signs, posters, flags and other displays across the district − including on stadium fencing, walls, doors, ceilings, vehicles, the district’s website and in emails − would be limited to:
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The Little Miami flag and mascot.
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Classroom displays that are part of of the class’s curriculum.
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Superintendent-approved signs “that denote a recognition of achievement.”
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Sport tournament displays.
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Signs from the branches of the U.S. military, colleges and universities.
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Country flags that represent the district’s foreign exchange students.
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Flyers, notices and invitations for clubs, no larger than a standard letter sheet of paper, and only on approved bulletin boards.
Thursday’s special meeting will be held at the district’s central office, at 95 E. U.S. 22&3 in Maineville, at 6 p.m. The next regular Little Miami school board meeting is scheduled for Jan. 28 at 7 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Special meeting: Ohio school board considers controversial flag policy