Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Lgbtq Student Safety Signage topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Paola students urge board to restore LGBTQ “safe zone” signs, saying signs help protect vulnerable youth
Summary
Two Paola High School students told the Paola Board of Education during public comment that reinstating visible "safe zone" signs in classrooms helps LGBTQ students feel safe and supported; the comments came during a public forum the board said cannot resolve personnel complaints or take immediate action.
Two Paola High School students urged the Paola Board of Education on the evening of the board meeting to restore visible "safe zone" signs in classrooms, saying the signs make LGBTQ students feel safer and more able to learn.
At the board's public forum, Bethany Salmon described feeling isolated and ashamed after coming out in a small Midwestern community and said the signs gave her a “safe place” at school. “I know I can breathe. I know I can cry in my teacher's arms when I feel afraid,” Salmon said. She asked the board to “make the decision in the favor of student safety for these signs to go back up.”
Valerie Taylor, an 18-year-old senior at Paola High School, said she was fortunate to have supportive adults but that many students are not. Taylor cited a Human Rights Campaign report she said surveyed more than 13,000 LGBTQ respondents and said a majority reported parental rejection; the transcript recorded a figure described as “57.4 percent.” She told the board seeing a sign “with your flag on it” helped her feel seen and improved her classroom engagement: “I felt a stronger mutual respect between me and these teachers, which inspired me to make more of an effort in their classes.”
The board’s chair and meeting materials emphasized rules for the public forum: speakers must register with the clerk at least 10 minutes before the meeting and are limited to five minutes, and the board will not entertain questions or take action during public comment. The board also read a statutory limitation, citing Kansas Statutes Annotated 75-4319, which says the board shall not hear personal complaints concerning employees or certain security-related matters in open session.
Neither student asked for a specific vote during the forum, and the transcript contains no immediate board action to reinstate or remove signage. Board members did not indicate a decision during the meeting; no motion or referral on the signs was recorded in the minutes provided.
Speakers in the public forum and the board’s reading of meeting rules framed the exchange: the public comment process is a chance to register concerns but not to obtain an immediate ruling or remedy. If the board chooses to address signage, any action would appear later on a posted agenda or in a future meeting.
