SLVUSD Violates Conscience

Today (May 6th) the so-called Pride Flag again went up over the public school campuses of the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District (SLVUSD).  The district took this action despite the fact that doing so once again violates the conscience of students in their care.  There’s a history to this egregious, callous disregard for people of religious conviction, one that reaches back at least to 2021.  If you’re new to the saga, please review the posts and associated material available here, here, here, here, and here (from most recent to oldest).  As you do, know the immediate issue is not that of whose worldview wins – one shaped by biblical convictions, or one driven by the LGBTQ+ sexual revolution.  Rather, the issue turns on what’s appropriate for educational authorities in a public-school setting.

Before I address Christian parents and educators in Santa Cruz County, let me note a few important points:

1. I first addressed the SLVUSD Board of Trustees on this matter in 2021, at which time I expressed my willingness for extended dialogue. In 2022 and 2023, I explicitly asked for such dialogue. The Board has refused.  Why?  I think they’re afraid.  They’re afraid to engage the questions asked and the arguments raised.  Why are they afraid?  Maybe because they know it’s wrong to violate the convictions and conscience of students in pursuit of their agenda.  I repeat my request to the SLVUSD Board of Trustees for a substantive dialogue over an important matter.  I challenge them to prove their courage.

2. Today’s action came as something of a surprise. Not totally, because I expected the flags to go up at some point. This week of nonsensical disregard comes like clockwork each May since 2021.  It was a surprise because in past years the Board always passed a resolution to fly the flag; one typically taken in April.  A recent review of official documents showed nothing indicating the Board’s adoption of a similar resolution for 2024.  When the flags went up today, I took a brief field trip to the SLVUSD District Office.  There I discovered that a resolution was indeed passed, one to fly the flag annually “during the week leading up to the Annual Queer Youth Leadership Awards” (see SLVUSD Board Resolution 2023-24-04).  The Board took this action on August 2, 2023.  Why August 2^nd?  I don’t know.  I’m inclined to think August was convenient for passing a controversial resolution.  Who would see and notice something passed in August?  Perhaps I’m wrong, but this looks like cowardice.

Now, let me address you reading this who follow Jesus Christ, fellowship in his church, and still have children in the Santa Cruz public school systems.  If that’s you, I’m with you in the struggle of trying to faithfully educate your kids in the public schools.  It’s no easy task.  We need God’s help to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16).  That said, let me ask you this: Will you keep your children at school this week?  Will you willingly let your kids walk onto their campus beneath a flag that makes a tyrannical, unholy demand on their allegiance?  Don’t deceive yourself into thinking that isn’t happening.  Did you know the Pride Flag is the creation of a man who openly mocked Jesus Christ by parading through the streets of San Francisco in his Pink Jesus costume (see here)?  Will you, with evident protest, remove your children from school until next Monday?

Finally, to Christian educators in Santa Cruz’s public systems: Thank you for seeking to honor Christ in an amazingly difficult vocational context.  You’re a breath of fresh air in a world that’s often stifling.  But, for you too I have questions.  Will you let a week like this pass unchallenged?  Are you comfortable submitting quietly to the Pride Flag when you walk into work each day?  Isn’t your conscience violated?  Please stand up and open your mouth with courage.  Go to your administration and make this an issue.  Go to your Board and publicly object to this obvious disregard and disrespect.  Do it to glorify Christ and do it as an act of loving service to the kids you teach.  If you need an ally, let me know.  I’d like to help in any way I can.

Nonsense prevails when people refuse to stand up and speak up.