A pride flag in a classroom and a packed school events calendar made their way to Sewanhaka’s Board of Education meeting Tuesday night.
Christine O’Neil, A Sewanhaka parent, used the meeting’s public comment period to say she was upset and “disagreed” with a LGBTQ pride flag hanging in her daughter’s first-period class.
“I found out in the second week of school that my daughter’s…teacher had an LGTBQ and trans flag in front of the classroom, and everybody’s welcome,” O’Neil said. “Well, I will say that I disagree with that. Why? Because [she does not go] to school to share the teachers’ private preferences or ideology.”
Board President William Leder said he “heard” her concern, but did not believe the flag pushed any type of ideology and simply allowed students to feel comfortable.
“I don’t think that anyone’s expressing an ideology by having a flag in their classroom,” Leder told O’Neil. “That’s just letting people know that everyone’s welcome there. We have a rainbow flag in front of our house…It’s not an ideology thing. It’s a comfort level thing for everyone.”
O’Neil said she wanted to speak with the teacher who put up the flag, but has not been able to, and that she wanted to remove her daughter from the class, although it was unclear whether this had already been done.
“In school, the kids are supposed to grow,” O’Neil continued. “It’s supposed to be for everybody to feel comfortable, safe, and if somebody has that ideology or that preference, it should be private.”
Studies show that seeing pride flags in classrooms makes LGBTQ students feel safer, more comfortable and supports their mental health. A Psychology Today report states that students with supportive teachers and staff experienced improved mental health and attended school more frequently than those who didn’t.
Almost 40% of queer youth considered suicide and 12% attempted it in the U.S. in 2024, according to data from the Trevor Project, a nonprofit that advocates for queer youth. The data shows that when queer students felt they had support from their school, they were less likely to struggle with mental health.
Another community member, Mickheila Jasmin-Beamon, came to the podium to speak in support of pride flags in classrooms.
“We have to be mindful that, if we’re going to have a diverse school that welcomes people, no matter their national origin, no matter race, no matter what sexual orientation, then having a flag in the room is not saying ‘This is what I want for you,’” Jasmin-Beamon said. “It is merely saying ‘I don’t hate you for it. I will not shun you for this.’”
“There have been experiences in our country where people have been actively attacked for being LGBTQ,” she continued. “I think that this is a good effort by the teacher. He is not speaking on anyone’s personal, private decisions, but if you do make that decision, when you walk into this classroom, he is showing no one is going to attack you for it.”
After the meeting, three of Sewanhaka’s student board of education members expressed support for placing pride flags in classrooms.
The board did not say if any action would be taken to remove the flag from the classroom due to a parent’s concern.
Prior to the pride flag conversation, another parent, who identified herself as Dr. Massie, expressed concern over conflicting events on the district’s schedule, saying it prevented students from taking advantage of all events and her from being able to support her children in the district.
For example, she said, there had been a College and Career Fair on Monday, her daughters had not been able to attend because of sporting events, and, due to conflicting teacher availability on a Meet the Teacher night, she had not been able to meet both her eighth and 11th grader’s teachers.
“Unfortunately, some of a subset of our scholars were unable to take advantage of the [College and Career Fair] event because of, again, conflicting calendars,” Massie said. “I’m just wondering, who is organizing the events and what calendars are being reviewed to make sure there are no major conflicts?”
She said the issue had been ongoing for years.
Superintendent Regina Agrusa said she understood Massie’s concerns, but that preventing conflicts was not always in the district’s control. The district elected to hold its College and Career Fair close to the larger fair being held at Hofstra to maximize the resources available to students and it does not have control over athletic scheduling, which is managed by Section VIII, the governing body for high school sports.
Agrusa said she would “certainly” take Massie’s concerns and suggestions into consideration and look into holding additional opportunities when conflicts arise in the future.
The next Sewanhaka Central High School Board of Education meeting is set for 8 p.m. on Oct. 28 at Elmont Memorial High School.
