On Tuesday, October 15, 2024, the Durango 9-R school board voted to suspend a ban on faculty displaying Black Lives Matter and the Progress Pride Flag on school campuses. The ban lasted for a few days.
Nearly 100 Students, parents, and faculty protested during the Durango 9-R school district board meeting the day before. They filled the room, wearing shirts and displaying flags supporting Black Lives Matter and Pride.
On October 1, the Durango 9-R School District notified faculty that Black Lives Matter and Progress Pride flags could no longer be displayed at schools.
The decision was made in response to a parent's complaint, and the district’s legal counsel advised against displaying the flags. The Progress Pride flag is a version of the LGBTQ flag that includes additional stripes representing the transgender community and communities of color.
Ava Allen, a Durango High School student and the president of the school’s Black Student Alliance, organized a schoolwide walkout during the 7th period on October 15 to protest the flag ban. She spoke during the public comment period of the board meeting.
“Police brutality still continues to be a part of our everyday lives. Black people's houses are broken into. Black people are tortured and beaten and put down because of the way they look for holding a hairbrush… Our wishes are to rescind this directive,” said Allen.
Finley Pribble is 12 years old and a seventh grader at Escalante Middle School.
“I was pretty disappointed,” said Pribble. ”In my orchestra room, there's a flag that's always been there, and in other rooms, there are always just at least smaller flags.”
Cheri Overstreet, a preschool teacher at Needham Elementary, said she is concerned about the message this will send to students when diversity, equity, and inclusion are priorities for the school district.
“We're all about inclusion, and so we celebrate everybody's differences. We read all kinds of books about diversity and inclusion. The kids are learning a lot about how to include others and celebrate who they are,” said Overstreet.
After strong community support and an hour of public input, school board members voted unanimously to remove the ban on Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ Pride Flags.
The board didn't give a timeline for resolving the parent’s complaint that spurred the ban. The community members in attendance cheered after the vote.
Voices From the Edge of the Colorado Plateau is a reporting collaboration between KSUT Public Radio and KSJD Community Radio. It seeks to cover underrepresented communities in the Four Corners.
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