The school board in Redlands voted Tuesday to move forward with two controversial policies. The policies still have a few hurdles to clear before they can be adopted and implemented.
One policy would ban all flags beside the American or California flag. The other would give the board broad powers to remove books it deems obscene or inappropriate… though it hasn’t defined what that means.
Redlands Unified School District spokeswoman Christine Stephens said in an email that the policies will have to be brought back twice. The district would begin negotiations with the teachers' and classified unions if the policies are approved after the second reading.
Both policies have been championed by Christian conservatives and adopted by other school boards in the region. The Temecula school board rescinded its flag policy after California’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) found the district violated its contract with teachers by failing to negotiate with the union before adopting the policy.
Meanwhile, critics say these policies limit free speech and are harmful for LGBTQ youth.