Central Union trustees consider Pride-month proclamation after nearly 20 minutes of public comment

The Central Union High School District Board of Trustees heard nearly 20 minutes of public comment June 10 on a resolution to proclaim the month of June as LGBTQIA+ Pride Month.

Speakers at the public-comment period expressed sharply different views about school role and classroom discussions. Student speakers urged limiting school involvement in conversations about sexual orientation and gender identity; community members and a retired teacher urged respect and compliance with state law. The transcript does not include a roll-call vote on resolution 061025Dash33.

The dispute began in the first round of comments on the agenda item. Student Adielle Bonanno of Central Union High said she loves her peers but argued “certain topics, particularly those related to sexual orientation and personal identity, should not be the responsibility of the school to address,” adding that such discussions “belong in the home between a child and their parents or guardians.”

Class president Delilah Bernal told the board she wants schools to protect students’ right to private beliefs and argued against “indoctrination,” saying teachers and staff may treat topics differently: “We cannot force religion on others, but … we can incorporate students having to learn the different gender identities and sexual orientations,” she said, urging compromise when the district considers related curriculum and spending.

Diego Quezada, a 2025 Central Union graduate, called recent campus efforts to recognize LGBTQIA+ identity “indoctrination” and said such activities make the group “special or different, not normal.” Youth pastor Cameron Colas said parents should be more actively consulted: “Why were the parents not made abundantly more aware of this resolution?” he asked.

By contrast, retired teacher Catherine Drew invoked state law and classroom practice, saying teachers are required to enforce respect: “Both California State Law, California Ed Code says that these will be the rules,” and later: “We can multitask. We can have this policy and we can still proceed with the lives that teachers need to lead … and the respect that is shown to every student.”

Rosa Diaz, who identified herself as founder and CEO of the Imperial Valley LGBT Resource Center (now the Donnelly Community Services Center), said she has worked with transgender and nonbinary youth and urged caution: “I do not support displaying the pride flag at any public school classroom … I do not support school personnel using pronouns as part of their identity,” she said, adding she would provide documentation.

Jeremiah Vick, executive director of Youth for Christ in Imperial Valley, said his campus programs “welcome all students from all walks of life” and that his organization has not discriminated against LGBTQ+ students; he urged the board to “consider and reconsider this item.”

Board members set a three-minute time limit for speakers and, during the exchange, noted the public-comment window on the subject had run about 18 minutes. The transcript records the motion to approve resolution 061025Dash33 and a second, but it does not record the final vote tally or the board’s formal outcome for the proclamation.

The item was listed on the board’s agenda as approval of resolution 061025Dash33, proclaiming June as LGBTQIA+ Pride Month. The public-comments record shows community division over the district’s role in classroom discussion and symbolic recognition; the board’s formal action on the resolution is not specified in the transcript excerpt.

The debate over the resolution occurred during the meeting’s public-comment segment for agenda item 8 and included students, recent graduates, faith leaders, a retired teacher, and representatives of local nonprofit youth services. The district’s staff and trustees did not debate curriculum content in depth during that segment; the public comments were the primary recorded discussion of the item.