Parents Blast Long Valley Middle School Over Rainbow Sign Removal

LONG VALLEY, NJ — The decision to remove rainbow-colored Safe Zone signs from Long Valley Middle School has come under fire this week, with Washington Township parents and LGBTQ youth advocates speaking out in person at Tuesday's public board meeting.

The Safe Zone stickers were first brought to the public's attention in December, and the superintendent of the Washington Township School District announced the removal of rainbow-colored Safe Zone signs after receiving complaints from parents and consulting with the school district's lawyers.

At the Jan. 3 board of education meeting, Superintendent Peter Turnamian announced the change, stating that the current signs, which depict a rainbow, would be replaced with a more common symbol in order to encourage kindness among all students.

The reason for the change was that the district's legal team was concerned about two things: the voluntary nature of how the stickers were first implemented in the school and how using a specific symbol could expose the district to accusations of favoritism.

However, at the Feb. 7 board meeting, Michael Wald, a Long Valley resident and attorney, spoke out, alleging that the removal of the stickers is unethical. According to Wald, the decision to remove the stickers could potentially violate an administrative code enacted by the New Jersey Legislature.

"This statute is binding and explicitly lays out the proper basis for decision-making of this kind. Subsection B is explicit, 'You will make decisions in terms of the educational welfare of children and will seek to develop and maintain public schools that meet the individual needs of all children regardless of their ability, race, creed, sex, or social standing.' This decision appears to be in direct violation of this statute, which required it to have been made in terms of the educational welfare of children and take into consideration their individual needs."

Wald went on to say that because the school district did not attempt to assess the decision's impact on student's educational welfare or conduct a cost-benefit analysis, the district's decision could be considered unlawful.

"In addition to the apparent violations of the decision as a whole, other sections of the ethics law appear to have been violated by individual board members who took it upon themselves to speak to the media and exploit the opportunity to express their own personal views. In conclusion, this decision needs to be reversed," Wald said.

Another resident, Chad Luibl, who moved to Long Valley with his family during the pandemic, stated that one of the main reasons they chose Long Valley was because of the excellent school district and welcoming community.

"We moved to Long Valley because we had trust in the school system… but I have to say my trust has been cracked. I am so disappointed when I saw the news that we are now part of a headline, part of this political divide. I know it wasn't the school board, but somebody engaged with the lawyer and you are the messengers," Luibl said.

Among the adults and parents debating the topic for the nearly three-and-a-half-hour meeting, a handful of students from both the middle and high schools took the podium and shared personal anecdotes.

One of those students, Matthew Berke, spoke about the treatment that LGBTQ+ students currently face at Long Valley Middle School, a place that he referred to as, "a living hell."

According to Berke, the decision to remove the stickers further isolated the queer community within the middle school. "By taking down these window decals, it is telling us we have no voice nor value in this community."

Mark Ippolito, the principal of Long Valley Middle School, which has approximately 723 students in grades 6-8, did not respond to Patch's inquiry for comment on the subject.

"The message has been made loud and clear by the students here, that this is offensive and this hurts. Through this action, the LGBTQ youth have been told to be quiet, to go away, because a small minority of parents, not kids, are afraid," Luibl said.

The member of the school board chose not to comment further on the issue, but Turnamian praised the students who spoke up during the meeting, saying they have his full support. "I appreciate you, and I am proud of you."

The Washington Township School Board Attorney, Stephen Fogerty, also spoke at the end of the meeting, saying that he told the district that the stickers could remain up, as long as they also permitted stickers with opposite viewpoints to also go up.

"We could not pick and choose which speech and which viewpoints we would allow to be presented in our schools. If someone wanted to present a flag that was representative of their point of view... provided it was not profane or that it did not incite violence, we would have to permit it," Fogerty said.

Fogerty asserted that this allowance might spark additional controversy, which would disrupt the students' overall education.