Policy passed by Miami-Dade School Board allowing more than American and Florida flags inside classrooms and campuses – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports

MIAMI (WSVN) – Miami-Dade’s school board addressed a controversy over what should and shouldn’t be displayed in a classroom. The issue at hand? Flags. But what began as a contentious issue, later became one of compromise when common ground was found.

On Wednesday, the Miami-Dade School Board passed a flag policy ensuring the American flag will be displayed in front of schools and inside every classroom, as well as displaying the state of Florida motto.

“The policy talked about multicultural programs that we promote and embrace, and we support an environment that respects the diversity of our student population, and ultimately reflects the diversity of this community, reflects the diversity of this district, and as I indicated, the constitutional rights for our students, faculty and staff, they do not stop at schoolhouse door,” said School Board member Dr. Steve Gallon III, District 1.

“This is something that we all believe in: the American dream, and we’re all patriots, and I think that’s the resounding sentiment. People were just concerned with discrimination,” said Teachers Union and United Teachers of Dade President Karla Hernandez-Mats.

For those who expressed they were against part of the policy, the amendment seemed to bring everyone together.

“This was turned into something controversial, and a lot of people felt that it was done purposefully, so I’m glad that these protected classes and that it was clarified that teachers can display flags of their heritage and their identity in the classroom,” said Hernandez-Mats.

So what happens next? What can and cannot be on display and when?

The answer isn’t so simple yet.

“What we’ve asked is for the superintendent to go back and to review all the information to make sure that any flag in which we’re going to be incorporating inside of our classrooms abides to the laws, both federal and state laws, as well as our board policy,” said School Board member Roberto J. Alonso, District 4. “So it will be up to them to deem that and they’ll be coming back in February with a report on that.”

Everyone seems to agree this is a step in the right direction that focuses on unity.

“This was done in a way that does not take away, it is not intrusive, is not exclusive and again it complies with our school board policy and that the amendment allows further extensions based on some of the concerns we had,” said Gallon III.

“We have all these different activities in which there is curriculum that has been developed to be able to teach our children, and I always support the teachers to have the freedom to bring out any content that is related to that to teach our students,” said Alonso.

More information will be released about the new flag policy in 2023.

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