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Residents urge Paola USD to restore rainbow "safe zone" signs, allege improper, secret removal
Summary
Multiple students and residents told the Paola Unified School District board that removing rainbow "safe zone" signage has left LGBTQ students feeling unsafe and accused the board and superintendent of deciding enforcement in secret, in possible violation of board policy and the Kansas Open Meetings Act.
Several students and residents urged the Paola Unified School District Board of Education on Tuesday to restore rainbow “safe zone” signs removed from school buildings and demanded the board explain when and how the decision was made.
The speakers said the signs had marked visible support for LGBTQ students and that their removal has increased fear among those students. “They were not a problem then, so why not?” said Valerie Taylor during the public-comment period. “Taking down these signs has caused more problems than [they] caused when they were up.”
The complaint extended beyond requests for reinstatement. LC Blackmore told the board she reviewed minutes back to September and found “no mention of the IFA policy or the signs in any of the records,” and argued that the board’s policy on executive sessions (policy BCBK) and the Kansas Open Meetings Act prohibit taking binding action in closed session. “That being the case, it is still in violation,” Blackmore said. “This decision was never openly discussed by the school board. Instead, enforcement of a policy…was determined in secret.”
Shirley Sack, who identified herself as a Paola graduate and long-time community member, said the signs helped keep students safe and urged the board not to roll back supports she says protect vulnerable children. “I treat everyone the same as it should be,” Sack said. “You, by your actions, just removed one of those safe areas.”
Natalia Cortez Barb framed the comments around student well‑being and law: she cited research linking student safety and academic success and referenced the Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County when discussing protections for LGBTQ people. She urged the board to convene a task force or committee to study why students report feeling unsafe and “take action of your own free will before tragedy tells us to do something.”
Speakers also criticized what they described as inconsistent enforcement of the district’s policy: several said signs promoting other viewpoints — including religious or mental-health messages — were left in place while rainbow signs were removed. “You did not take down the Fellowship of Christian Athlete signs,” Valerie Taylor said, and she asked why the rainbow signs, some allegedly up for “half a decade or more,” were taken down two days before winter break.
Board members did not take action during the public comment period; board rules and staff reiterated that public comment is not a forum for immediate board action. The board did not announce any schedule for addressing the requests during the meeting. Several speakers explicitly asked for an open‑meeting discussion and a public explanation of who made the decision and under what authority.
The public-comment speakers and their calls for transparency close a week in which the sign removals and enforcement of the district’s IFA policy were the central point of contention at the meeting. Speakers asked the board to explain why the policy was enforced without public discussion and to commit to more transparent engagement going forward.
The matter remained pending at the meeting’s end; no formal motion or vote to reinstate signage was taken.
