SLV High & An LGBTQ+ Flag – Episode 2

Yesterday I posted a letter that I sent to the principal of my daughter’s high school, and the superintendent of her school district, after the San Lorenzo Valley High School flew an LGBTQ+ pride flag immediately underneath the American flag.  In that letter I expressed my deep concern for the school’s action, and I tried to articulate why flying this flag is profoundly inappropriate.  Today the saga continues.  In response to my letter, I received an answer that did not effectively address the issues I raised.  For appropriateness sake, I will not post the email that was sent to me, but I will post my response.  What follows below is my second email, delivered today to the high school principal and the district superintendent.  

Note: Before you read on, if you live in Santa Cruz County it’s very important that you know this is a county-wide effort orchestrated by the Santa Cruz County Office of Education.  Schools all over the county are flying the LGBTQ+ pride flag, and thereby deeply offending the consciences and religious convictions of, I trust, many children and families in our community.  It is possible for us to respect, and love, LGBTQ+ individuals as fellow human beings created in the image of God, without taking the unnecessary and wholly inappropriate step of displaying these flags on public school campuses.  If you live in Santa Cruz County, I highly encourage you to express your objection to the Santa Cruz County Office of Education and the various County Supervisor offices. 

My email sent on May 18^th: 

Ms. SUPERINTENDENT, 

Thank you for your response.  I’m grateful for the consideration.  That said, I don’t see that you’ve addressed the concerns I raised in my email.  The issue is not simply that the LGBTQ+ pride flag replaced the California state flag.  Rather, as I tried to articulate, it is inappropriate for a public school to display the LGBTQ+ pride flag in the first place.  The flag is unnecessary and profoundly, even aggressively, offensive to students and families associated with SLVHS.  

I’m unclear here as to why it matters for SLVUSD that the Santa Cruz County Office of Education is involved in this effort.  Isn’t the SLVUSD an independent school district, and thus free to choose whether or not it will participate in this “event”?  It seems to me that responsibility for the decision to fly this flag lies with SLVHS and SLVUSD.  If I’m wrong in that understanding, I’m happy to be corrected.  

This is not an issue that I can let rest with the response I’ve received thus far.  I intend to forward my letter on to the Santa Cruz County Office of Education, as well as to the five County Supervisor offices.  Additionally, I’d like to address this issue with the SLVUSD Board of Trustees on June 9th.  May I ask for your help with how I should manage placing my name on the agenda for that evening?  

Thank you for your time.  Please understand the seriousness of this matter for myself, my daughter, and, I believe, other families across Santa Cruz County. 

Respectfully, 

P.J. Davis