Schools

Burlington community calls for action after middle school students disrupt Pride event

Burlington middle school students reportedly tore down Pride banners, chanted "U.S.A. are my pronouns," and glared down students and teachers supporting Pride.

By Susannah Sudborough

June 12, 2023

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The Burlington community is calling on town leaders to take action in the wake of a recent middle school incident during which students disrupted a Pride event.

What happened at the school

According to a letter to parents from Marshall Simonds Middle School Principal Cari Perchase, the incident took place during a school-approved spirit day celebrating Pride month on Friday, June 2. The spirit day was requested and sponsored by Spectrum Club — a student group for LGBTQ+ students and allies.

As part of the event, the letter said, Spectrum Club decorated the school with handmade “Happy Pride Month” signs and educational posters with messages such as “Why it’s not ok to say ‘That’s so gay’.” The club members also put up rainbow streamers and Pride flag banners, handed out rainbow stickers, and invited students and faculty to wear rainbow clothing.

But throughout the day, some students showed their disdain for the event in a number of ways. The letter said students were seen “being inappropriate” with the stickers and tearing down the banners and signs.

Other students tried to intimidate faculty and students showing support for Pride through glares, chanted “U.S.A. are my pronouns” in the halls, and wore red, white, and blue clothes with face paint in protest of the event, the letter said.

How the school responded

In the letter, Perchase said she was “extremely disheartened” by the students’ anti-Pride actions.

“I fully respect that our diverse community has diverse opinions and beliefs. I also respect individuals’ right to express their opinions through clothing choices and freedom of speech,” she wrote. “When one individual or group of individuals’ beliefs and actions result in the demeaning of another individual or group, it is completely unacceptable.”

Perchase said in the letter that she stands in solidarity with and in support of the students and faculty that were impacted by the student protest.

“I am truly sorry that a day meant for you to celebrate your identity turned into a day of intolerance. Schools are supposed to be a safe place for ALL students and faculty. Some community members’ actions created an unsafe environment for many of our students, caregivers, and faculty,” she wrote.

To help remedy the situation, Perchase said the school designated a meeting time during which students could express their concerns to administrators and created an anonymous form for students to report specific hateful incidents. She also said the school would look into providing a program that would teach students tolerance, acceptance, and respect.

Burlington Public Schools Superintendent Eric Conti also responded to the incident. In a letter to parents, he denounced the students’ protest, writing that the increase in anti-LGBTQ+ violence in the country “has no place in our schools.”

“Like any spirit day celebration at MSMS, participation is optional. Respectful behavior across the entire student body, however, is non negotiable,” he wrote.

Burlington Equity Coalition calls for action

After hearing about the incident, Burlington Equity Coalition — a group of local non-profits working to promote diversity and inclusion — put out a statement condemning what happened at the school and calling on town leaders to take action.

The group demanded the school district discipline students involved in the protest and fill the position of diversity, inclusion, and equity (DEI) director for the district — a position that has been open for nearly a year.

It also asked the town’s select board to reinstate a temporary DEI subcommittee that it opted not to continue in February. Instead, Burlington Cable Access Television reports, the board requested and was granted $20,000 for DEI training at the annual Town Meeting in May.

“While this is an opportunity for education for the whole community and a chance to remind residents that every person is important and welcome in our town, we also believe that without any direct and concrete action, these incidents will occur again and increase in severity,” the group wrote.

The public speaks out

At a Burlington Select Board meeting Monday, many community members expressed concern about the incident during public comments.

Nila Almstrom, whose child is a student at Marshall Simonds Middle School, said her child struggled with their mental health before coming out of the closet a few years ago, but that supportive parents, teachers, students, and librarians helped her child come out of their shell and thrive.

“Could you use this as a teachable moment to show the kids who counter-protested Pride that they can take responsibility for their actions and still become allies?” she asked the select board.

Librarian and former high school teacher Andrea Bono-Bunker called on the select board to speak out against the anti-Pride protest and foster dialogue about minority-directed hate in the community.

“Seemingly small acts like the one that occurred at Marshall Simonds yesterday are influential acts,” she said, reading from an email she sent to the select board on June 3.

“…How many children felt power yesterday by committing an act of intimidation? How many children had a seed of homophobia planted in them yesterday? How many children now feel worse about themselves because of what they witnessed or experienced yesterday? How many children now think that being part of or supportive of the LGBTQIA+ community is unAmerican?”

How the select board responded

After public comment closed, Select Board Member Mike Espejo spoke out against what happened at the school, saying he was deeply disturbed by the incident.

“I didn’t think this could happen in Burlington,” he said.

Espejo also said he’d long been disappointed by the school’s failure to fill the DEI director position and by the fact that a job listing hadn’t even been posted.

He said he spoke to the superintendent about the DEI position in the wake of the Pride event incident, and that the superintendent said he was waiting on the new assistant superintendent to start July 1 so that they could craft a new job description for the position.

Two other select board members said they agreed with Espejo’s sentiments.

“Offering somebody respect and dignity, as you would hope to have returned to you, should be a pretty straightforward endeavor,” Select Board Member Nicholas Priest said.

Select Board Chairman Michael Runyan closed the discussion, saying the select board would address the issue again later this summer.