Minnesota schools caught in DEI debate over posters, flags

“Black Lives Matter” signs have prompted a lawsuit in one Minnesota school district. Pride flags have been taken down in others. Even “All Are Welcome Here” signs have drawn criticism and eyebrows.

Cultural divisions over diversity and equity initiatives continue to fester across Minnesota — with posters and other displays that advocates say are designed to instill a sense of belonging still drawing the ire of opponents. As teachers across the state begin a new school year this fall, what they hang on their walls comes with a reckoning about the potential hassle from disapproving parents.

In June, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit reinstated a case alleging that Lakeville-area schools discriminated against parents who criticized district-sponsored Black Lives Matter signs. The parents had also requested, but failed to obtain, the installation of additional Blue Lives Matter signs.

Earlier this year, Minnesota’s 2024 legislative session ended without a House vote on a bill that would ban rainbow flags in schools and other government buildings.

Asked about the Lakeville case last week, Education Minnesota, the state teachers union, focused instead on the children.

“Schools should be places where all students are seen, valued and respected,” said David Aron, the union’s legal counsel. “It is unfortunate that a far-right interest group would target a school district’s efforts to demonstrate support for its Black students in the name of free speech.”

A Lakeville Schools spokesperson confirmed last week that the district-approved Black Lives Matter artwork still adorns the walls.

The Upper Midwest Law Center, a conservative nonprofit law firm that represents Lakeville parents, said the district “cannot put its thumb on the scale” in favor of Black Lives Matter activists.

“Students are there to learn, not to be politically indoctrinated,” added James Dickey, the firm’s senior counsel, in an interview last week.

Dickey said the appeals court decision could influence districts’ actions in other areas, whether to remove posters or make space for those with different viewpoints — a prospect that worries Hannah Edwards, director of Transforming Families Minnesota, which provides services to the LGBTQ community. She knows teachers who have been warned against posting rainbow posters or addressing students using preferred pronouns.

“Not all of these stories are picked up by school boards or deserve to be picked up by the media,” Edwards said. “But they are afraid of these parents who are threatening retaliation.”

There have been headlines: The school board in Worthington, Minn., voted to remove pride flags from classrooms. Flags have begun disappearing in Bemidji in response to that district’s neutral stance on such displays. Several Anoka-Hennepin school board members have threatened to delay approval of next year’s budget in part because of concerns about gender identity issues.

State Rep. Leigh Finke, DFL-St. Paul, the first openly transgender member of the legislature, cited the action in Bemidji and Worthington as inspiration for a bill this year to ban rainbow bans — a proposal that made it past the committee stage but never received a vote in the House because of what she believed was Republican obstruction as end-of-session deadlines approached.

At the committee hearing on the bill, Rep. Jon Koznick, a Republican from Lakeville, said schools should be free of political activity. Finke countered that anything that could be considered political in nature should be banned, adding in an interview last week: “You can’t isolate the rainbow and take it away.”

Edwards said such signs and stickers are necessary because transgender students like her daughter look for “visual safety cues” to find teachers who want that to be known: “All students are safe in my classroom,” she said.

Finke plans to reintroduce the bill in 2025 and hopefully win passage early in the session, she said, if DFLers remain in control of the House.

School Board Posters and Policy

The conflict over the Lakeville posters dates back to 2020 and began when district leaders initially asked teachers not to display Black Lives Matter signs because it violated the district’s goal of maintaining political neutrality. Months later, the district approved and funded the printing of eight inclusive posters, two of which bore the slogan Black Lives Matter and the following statement:

“At Lakeville Area Schools, we believe that Black Lives Matter and we support the social justice movement that this statement represents. The poster is consistent with school board policy and an unwavering commitment to our Black students, staff and community members.”

In a filing last week requesting a rehearing before the full court, the district argued that school boards are “listening to the electorate” and that taking a different position on an issue early on “does not mean they cannot change their mind later or adopt the discourse themselves.”

Dickey, of the Upper Midwest Law Center, said, “We’re pretty confident that the 8th Circuit is not going to revisit or reconsider its decision in this case.” He is seeking a settlement with the district requiring Lakeville to return to a neutral position on all political issues.

And would that mean the posters should be removed?

“This is part of our initial offering,” he said.