Remarks On Rainbow Sign Change 'Misconstrued,' Long Valley Superintendent Says

LONG VALLEY, NJ — After being chastised earlier this month for removing rainbow-colored Safe Zone stickers from the middle school, the Washington Township School District has clarified some "misconstrued" truths.

Superintendent Peter Turnamian spoke before the public, acknowledging some misconceptions that had been spreading around the community in light of the newly introduced "Portrait of a Panther" initiative.

During the board of education meeting on Feb. 7, dozens of angry parents and community members spoke about the betrayal the school district was showing the LGBTQ community within the district.

Turnamian announced earlier in January that a previously created initiative to promote inclusivity within the middle school would be replaced due to legal counsel following comments from concerned parents.

The current signs, which depict a rainbow, will soon be replaced with a more common symbol in order to encourage kindness among all students. This new plan was dubbed "Portrait of a Panther," and its vague introduction led to assumptions about its nature.

Previously, Michael Cardillo, a Long Valley resident, said, "I want to understand why the board would choose such a specific symbol that not everybody identifies with. Why can't it be a symbol of a Wolfpack… Everybody identifies with our school mascot. I just think that it is inappropriate to have a specific symbol for certain people."

Many members of the community expressed concern to the school board that replacing an LGBTQ-inclusive sticker with the common symbol of the school mascot would not promote kindness or provide protection to the middle school's queer community.

"What are you going to do to make sure that the LGBTQ+ students, specifically, feel safe, knowing the unique challenges they have? How are you going to help a gay 12-year-old navigate which teachers are going to offer them love and support and which are going to tell them that there is something morally wrong with them? An anti-bullying policy is not enough, a sign with a school mascot is not enough," resident Justin Messina said.

The previous "safe zone" sticker campaign was created by middle school students to ensure that LGBTQ+ students felt safe at school. The initiative was voluntary, and only teachers who felt comfortable displaying the sticker were encouraged to do so.

In response, Turnamian detailed that the new "Portrait of a Panther" signs would not be a depiction of the school mascot.

"There have been some misconstrued statements around the "Portrait of a Panther," mostly because the project is still getting off the ground. It's not about a panther, it's not about a mascot. It's about defining core values," Turnamian said.

While the school board has not explicitly stated these values, they will follow in the footsteps of West Morris Central, whose motto is "Pride in Pack" and which recently changed the letter "e" to mean empathy rather than exceptional.

"This project is putting us on that path to define our core values so that we have a common vocabulary for talking about how we treat each other," Turnamian said.

The "Portrait of a Panther" initiative will be another student-led initiative, with the hopes of engaging all members of the student body.