Board Members,
The Concerned Parents of Carroll County, and the community at large, supports your efforts to keep our schools focused on providing an academic education that’s free of political and social agendas.
We support the board’s motion to institute a flag policy that designates the county, state, and American flags as the only acceptable classroom symbols that’s truly inclusive of all students. Activist symbols, like the transgender-pride flag, that promote social justice causes have absolutely no place in our schools. The recent, unprovoked actions taken by PFlag, the Ash Strong organization, and central office staff to distribute trans-pride flags distracted our great teachers from providing the quality education our students deserve. This new flag policy must prevent all classroom obstructions – flags, banners, posters, pins, etc.
More importantly, we ask the board to take steps to strengthen the political neutrality policy. It was made evident by the widespread involvement of central office staff in the trans-flag event that the policy was misunderstood, blatantly disregarded, or both. Reinforcement training and firmer accountability measures must be implemented to deter future violations. The PFlag / Ash Strong incident is the focus now, but the political neutrality policy must be equally and fairly enforced to prevent all political and social agendas from impeding on our children’s education – no matter left or right, secular or religious.
In today’s Board of Education meeting, you will hear passionate pleas from activists demanding that teachers display trans-pride flags in their classrooms as a solution to the mental health challenges faced by LGBTQ+ youth. Concerned Parents agrees that the mental health of our children should be a priority, but we must approach these issues in a way that’s inclusive of all children regardless of their race, gender, or socio-economic background.
Arming our overworked teachers with colored flags, while celebratory, is not a practical solution to this crisis and only exacerbates the problem. Parents must take responsibility for the mental health of their children and seek professional help who are trained and certified in youth counseling – not teachers. Connecting our youth with the right resources will ensure CCPS remains committed to delivering a high-quality education free of distraction while providing our struggling youth the professional help they need.
Concerned Parents of Carroll County sincerely appreciates the board’s commitment to our students, and we thank you for your efforts to keep our schools the best in Maryland during these turbulent times.
Sincerely,
Bryan Thompson
Chair, Concerned Parents of Carroll County
