In the nearly five months since Idaho’s flag-and-banner law went into effect, restricting what can be displayed in Idaho classrooms, there have been two complaints filed with the Idaho Department of Education.
One complaint was rejected by the IDE, which ruled the poster is permitted, and the second complaint was resolved at the district level and the sign was removed. There have been no complaints since September.
House Bill 41 went into effect in July. School employees cannot display flags or banners that show opinions, emotions, beliefs or thoughts about politics, economics, society, faith or religion, according to IDE guidance.
As the bill was being discussed in the Statehouse, then-West Ada teacher Sarah Inama, made headlines nationwide when she refused to remove a sign reading “Everyone is Welcome Here” with multiracial hands. Attorney General Raúl Labrador’s office said in an opinion that the sign would violate HB 41.
The bill tasked the IDE with enforcing the new law, so the department created a complaint form. The first complaint was filed on July 2 over signs that read “In God We Trust” in the Lake Pend Oreille School District.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield emailed back that the poster is permitted because it complies with a different law allowing the national motto to be displayed.
The second complaint was filed anonymously Sept. 11 and alleged that Julie Kirk, a Jerome Middle School teacher was displaying an “Everyone is Welcome Here” sign on her classroom door.
An email from Kristine Moriarty, policy director at IDE, to Critchfield from Sept. 19 indicates that the complaint was resolved at the district level. EdNews obtained the complaint and email through a public records request.
Jerome Superintendent Brent Johnson said the sign was removed after a “quick conversation” with the teacher and the administration. Johnson said the law was new and raising awareness of changes takes time.
“With any new rule, there’s always a … how do we enforce this?”Johnson said. “The conversation was quite productive and friendly.”
Kirk told Ed News that she doesn’t personally believe the sign violates the law as written, and it was “difficult” to decide how to respond to the complaint.
“I love my district and our administrators, and I would never want to take time or energy away from the many real and pressing issues we face in education,” Kirk wrote in an email. ” It is disheartening that a sign meant simply to reassure students that they are welcome has been turned into something political.”
The sign ultimately isn’t what makes students feel welcome, Kirk said, but the way she interacts with students and the tone she sets in her classroom.
“I work very hard to create a safe, accepting, and supportive environment for all of my students, and I believe I do an excellent job of that,” she wrote.
The complaint was filed anonymously, likely from a colleague, which Kirk said is concerning because it allows specific teachers to be targeted with no recourse.
“At a time when working in education is already incredibly challenging, colleagues should be supporting and uplifting one another—not using unclear laws to divide or tear each other down,” Kirk said.
IDE has not received any additional complaints since September.
