Williamson County Parents Ask School Board For Policy That Will Only Allow American And Tennessee State Flags In Classrooms

Image Credit: Kevin P. Considine

The Tennessee Conservative [By Kelly M. Jackson] –

On Monday night in Franklin at the monthly Williamson County School board meeting, Williamson County parents voiced their concern about the recent appearances of Pride and LGBTQ+ flags being displayed in classrooms all over the district. 

Parents appeared at the meeting to utilize the time reserved for public comment to voice their concerns, and request that the district focus on making the classroom a place that is conducive to learning academics, versus being bombarded with political symbols that represent an ideology that they feel is harmful and inappropriate for their children. 

Parents argued that classrooms should be neutral, and void of all symbols that detract from what should be the primary purpose, educating students, and expressed a desire to see a policy established that would only allow the display of American and Tennessee state flags. 

Mother and Williamson County resident Natalie Showalter included this request in her comments to the board.

Showalter expressed empathy for the board who have received many communications from both sides of the issue giving their opinions and demanding action. She said, “I feel like the solution is simple: WCS needs a policy to only have the American and Tennessee state flags in schools and in classrooms.”  

Showalter based her argument on the basis that while she and her children also have a strong sense of identity, the expectation to have a symbol in the classroom that represents that identity in order to evoke a feeling, is not only unreasonable, but antithetical to the goals of education. 

Showalter said, “while my kids and I are strong believers in Christ, we do not advocate for the Christian flag to be displayed in schools and classrooms, nor as Iranians do we advocate for the Iranian flag to be present in WCS buildings”.

Showalter continued by stating that if the school is going to continue to allow the presence of the pride and LGBTQ+ flags to continue, then surely, they intend to make allowances for any and all flags or symbols that teachers should choose.

Williamson county resident Katherine McKinney addressed the issue of falling test scores, and that the classroom is “not the place for  adjudicating political issues, it’s the place to educate students on reading, writing and arithmetic”. McKinney then quoted the lackluster achievement scores of the district at 59% proficiency in reading and 58% in math. McKinney concluded her remarks by suggesting that “the mission” of educating children in Williamson County still has work to be done, and there is no room for political indoctrination of the students. 

A handful of parents advocated for the presence of the Pride and LGBTQ+ flags arguing that the absence of those symbols would guarantee that students who identify with those symbols wouldn’t feel safe unless they were allowed to be displayed. 

In previous meetings, Superintendent Jason Golden stated that to exclude any other flags besides the American and Tennessee state flags is tantamount to a violation of the 1^st Amendment rights of those employees of the district that are currently choosing to display the pride and LGBTQ+ flags.

Based on relatively recent case law, this may not necessarily be true. The 1^st Amendment does have restrictions on certain kinds of speech. 

Garcetti vs Ceballos, a case from 2006 held that speech by a public official or employee is only protected if it is engaged in as a private citizen, and not in their official capacity as a public employee. In other words, when teachers are teaching in the classroom, the interest of their students and the goals for learning outweigh the educators right to espouse their personal political ideologies in the classroom to their students. 

Additionally, in Mayer v. Monroe County Community School Corp, from 2007, the Seventh Circuit ruled that no teacher has the First Amendment right to express an opinion in the classroom, where students are a captive audience.  

The board agenda for Monday night’s meeting did not include any indication this issue is being considered for inclusion in Williamson County School policies. 

We will continue to follow this story when development occur and report them here.

About the Author: Kelly Jackson is a recent escapee from corporate America, and a California refugee to Tennessee. Christ follower, Wife and Mom of three amazing teenagers. She has a BA in Comm from Point Loma Nazarene University, and has a background in law enforcement and human resources. Since the summer of 2020, she has spent any and all free time in the trenches with local grassroots orgs, including Mom’s for Liberty Williamson County and Tennessee Stands as a core member.  Outspoken advocate for parents rights, medical freedom, and individual liberty. Kelly can be reached at kelly@tennesseeconservativenews.com.