High schoolers in Maine rallied against a school district’s ban on employees displaying ‘Black Lives Matter’ on school property

• Scarborough Public Schools officials said in a letter on Monday teachers and staff are not allowed to use “slogans or phrases” expressing a “personal viewpoint” on school property, according to WGME-TV.
• The letter said it was barring several phrases in light of the upcoming election, including “Black Lives Matter,” “White Lives Matter,” “Biden Harris: Our Best Days Still Lie Ahead,” “Trump Pence: Make America Great Again,” and “Battle for the Soul of a Nation,” WGME-TV reported.
• A group of Scarborough students rallied on Tuesday against the letter’s inclusion of “Black Lives Matter, which some told the Portland Press Herald they didn’t see as controversial.
• Scarborough superintendent apologized in a statement on Tuesday for the letter, in which he acknowledged the “need to better educate and equip ourselves to have these conversations,” the Press Herald reported.
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Students at a Maine high school pushed back on rules that restricted staff from expressing their “personal viewpoint” through “slogans or phrases” displayed on school property.

The group of students held a Tuesday morning protest over the inclusion of “Black Lives Matter” in a list of phrases Scarborough Public School District officials said staff members were not allowed to highlight at work, WGME-TV reported.

A letter sent to staff on Monday from Monique Culbertson, director of curriculum and assessment, said that in light of the upcoming election, teachers and staff “are not to wear or display any images, words, slogans or phrases that communicate a personal viewpoint, especially those that are or have the potential to be controversial or politicized,” according to a copy posted by WGME’s Karah Brackin on Twitter.

“White Lives Matter,” “Biden Harris: Our Best Days Still Lie Ahead,” “Trump Pence: Make America Great Again,” and “Battle for the Soul of a Nation,” were also listed in the letter as restricted phrases.

—Karah Brackin (@KarahWGME) October 27, 2020

Michelle Shupp, a teacher and advisor at Scarborough High School, told the Portland Press Herald that the letter “was shocking.”

"Schools have never been a safe place for kids of color but it's one thing experiencing and knowing it and another thing seeing a letter coming from your school district saying your lives don't matter and your teachers are not allowed to say your lives matter," Shupp told the newspaper.

Ashton Record, a senior who was present at the protest Tuesday morning, told WGME the student demonstrators "came out to support our teachers and their right to say what they believe." Another student, Casey Maddock, told the news station that the letter was "absurd."

"I really don't know where this is coming from and quite frankly, I think it's absurd they would ask us not to say or wear Black Lives Matter," Maddock told WGME. "I believe that Black Lives Matter is a human rights issue. It is not political and therefore has every place in our schools."

After the protest, Scarborough Public Schools superintendent Sanford Prince apologized in a statement reported by the Press Herald and WGME to those whom the letter offended. 

"As I now reflect on a communication that was shared by our curriculum director to staff yesterday, I understand that the reference to the phrase "Black Lives Matter" was offensive to many people who read the memo," Prince said. "Please know that inclusion of that phrase was not at all intended to be a statement to make any member of the community feel less valued in any way and we are deeply apologetic for that. We are collectively acknowledging here that we need to better educate and equip ourselves to have these conversations."

Prince told the Press Herald that the letter was an attempt to clarify the district's controversial-issue policy, and the Black Lives Matter movement can be considered controversial but is "subject to interpretation."