Durango High School students staged a walkout Tuesday, rallying against the district’s controversial new policy banning political symbols, a move that has ignited debate about free expression and inclusivity on campus.
Last week, Durango School District 9-R administration notified staff members that they could no longer display flags, posters or items featuring political symbols in their classrooms, following a parent’s complaint.
The policy specifically requires the removal of Black Lives Matter flags and a variation of the LGBTQ+ pride flag that includes white, pink and light blue stripes representing the transgender community, and symbols recognizing intersex people and communities of color.
More than 100 students met in front of Durango High School and walked along Main Avenue to Buckley Park to show their disapproval for the new policy.
Leading the effort was DHS Black Student Alliance president and senior Ava Allen. The students displayed outrage about the district considering their race, identity or sexual orientation to be political speech.
DHS senior Liam Morris said the ban on imagery felt like a personal attack. Morris identifies as bisexual.
“I don’t get why they banned this. This is a symbol of love. You love who you love, right? I asked everybody in our schools if this offended them, and they say, ‘no,’” Morris said pointing to a variant of the standard LGBTQ+ pride flag.
Morris said the pride flag symbolized safety for him, and without it, he feels unrepresented.
The students planned to attend a school district board meeting Tuesday night to voice their concerns. They also expressed frustration with a 9-R attorney who recommended the district draft the policy.
A petition was distributed among rallygoers at Buckley Park requesting the district rescind the policy.
During the rally at Buckley Park, Allen reminded students that students shouldn’t point their anger at DHS Principal Jon Hoerl or the high school administration.
“This was not an admin decision,” Allen told the crowd. “I want everybody to be clear on that. Please don’t walk back to the school angry. This is a decision made by a lawyer within the district because of unhappy parents, unhappy students, whatever it is, but our identity should not make somebody else unhappy.”
A key mission of DHS’ Black Student Alliance is to celebrate African American culture and help Black students connect with their heritage, despite living in a predominantly white city. According to the U.S. Census, only 0.8% of Durango’s population is Black.
Allen said the district’s policy change contradicts the district’s Portrait of a Graduate initiative, a set of traits students should possess upon graduation, as it relates to empathy.
Students at the rally on Tuesday shared their experiences about coming out as gay, bisexual and transgender and what it meant to walk into classrooms and see flags that supported them.
“Being a gay Black student definitely has been a challenge, but being able to be around people who support and trust in you is something that’s really important,” Allen said.
Colorado Senate District 6 candidate Vivian Smotherman spoke at the rally on Tuesday taking aim at the school district for its new policy.
Smotherman said that her wife, JoAnn, a math teacher at Durango High School, consistently created a safe and welcoming environment for all her students in the classroom.
As a trans woman, she expressed disappointment that the district did not consult the Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) or LGBTQ+ communities before implementing the change.
“If they continue to dismiss or try to erase our underserved students, when I get to Denver, my very first bill will just have to be to protect students’ right to display flags of oppression,” Smotherman said.
Allen said the students are not going to give up the fight for their cause. In the past, students standing up for their beliefs has proved to be an effective way to influence district policy.
In 2023, a group of students fought relentlessly to permit student possession of naloxone on campus. Within months, the district implemented a policy allowing students to administer the lifesaving drug during emergencies.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
An earlier version of this story published erred in reporting that Vivian Smotherman was a former math teacher at Durango High School. Her wife, JoAnn Smotherman, works as a math teacher at Durango High School.
