While school may be out for summer, that’s not stopping the Whitehall-Coplay School Board from continuing business as usual. The board held meetings June 10 and 24.

During the June 24 meeting, the board recognized Justin Tice as the new Whitehall High School assistant principal.

“Welcome back after your short hiatus in another district. We are glad to see you here and look forward to working with you again,” Superintendent Dr. Robert Steckel said.

The board continued its monthslong discussion about what can be displayed in classrooms, such as flags, pictures, etc.

This discussion began during a Jan. 22 board meeting when a kindergarten parent was unhappy to see an LGBTQIA+ flag hanging in his son’s kindergarten music class.

That conversation has now grown into something larger than just flags. Board members asked themselves, should every item a teacher wants to display require board approval if it does not align with the curriculum?

“I don’t actually feel this is extremely fair to this age group,” board member Nichole Hartman said. “So now you’re saying they can’t put, excuse this, but Winnie the Pooh or princesses? Things that make a classroom for this grade fun, right? Because that’s not the curriculum.”

Some board members feel this is extreme. Other board members feel if staff members are given the freedom to hang whatever they want, some could use it as a way to push an agenda.

“I’m saying that if it’s not related to education, it should not be a part of the classroom. We’re looking further than the isolated situation and making it unisolated, so we can look at this from a broader perspective,” board member George Makhoul said.

“Let’s leave it to the professional in the classroom as to what is appropriate and what is not,” Hartman said.

“There is a set of parents who feel that a professional was not doing what they thought was best for their students in that way,” Makhoul said.

The board ultimately decided if there is an issue, the parent’s complaint would have to go through a chain of command. If the parent still feels there is a problem within a classroom, the board will address it and vote on a case-by-case basis.

Proper language on what exactly the process will be is being discussed by Steckel and the board’s attorney. The language will then be presented to the board for approval.

The school board next meets 7 p.m. July 22 in the LGI room of Whitehall High School, 3800 Mechanicsville Road.