The progressive Pride flag that had flown at Sonoma Valley High School since students first raised it in 2019 came down Monday, Oct. 12, under a new flag policy the Sonoma Valley Unified School District board approved 3-2 on Thursday, Oct. 8. On Tuesday, Oct. 13, at least 250 students and adults rallied along Broadway in front of the school in Sonoma during a student walkout against the decision, The Press Democrat reported.
What the new flag policy does
The policy requires the U.S. and California flags to fly on school days at every district school, and lets schools also fly their own school flags. Any symbolic flag or banner representing a specific cause or group now needs school board approval and can only fly during awareness months the board designates. The policy says nothing about students having a role in choosing flags, the Sonoma Index-Tribune reported.
Board President David Bell and trustees Catarina Landry and Jason Lehman voted yes. Trustees Anne Ching and Gerardo Guzman voted no. The board also voted down an alternative, backed by Ching and Guzman, that would have let students, staff and local groups propose flags to the principal, with the school's elected student leadership body making the final call.
Bell first had the flag taken down on Jan. 16, when the district had no flag policy. It went back up on Jan. 20 after public outcry, and after Bell was told the full board needed to discuss the issue first. At the Oct. 8 meeting he said that when the flag went up in 2019, "no process was created for any other group to apply." Lehman said he looked at flag policies in more than 60 Napa and Sonoma districts and found only one similar to the student-led option. He suggested the board consider designating a Pride Month at the high school, meaning the flag could return in June, but only with board approval.
Pushback from students and teachers
Austin Cheeseman, the school's non-voting student representative on the board, said the policy shuts out student input. The co-presidents of the Valley of the Moon Teachers Association said the flag should have been a school-level decision. KRON4 reported that about 60 staff members signed a memo telling LGBTQ+ students they belong at the school, and that businesses around the Sonoma Plaza put up their own Pride flags.
The walkout began shortly before noon Tuesday and lasted about 90 minutes. It was organized by student members of the school's Genders & Sexualities Alliance with the local groups Wake UP Sonoma and Sonoma Valley Pride. Students stayed on the school side of Broadway, while adults gathered across the street on the public sidewalk.
The rally was mostly peaceful. A lone counter-protester carrying an anti-gender-clinic sign walked among the students, and a scuffle broke out after someone appeared to grab her sign. Sonoma police escorted her off school grounds several times, then arrested her on suspicion of trespassing. Jail records identified her as Elisabeth Bourne, 56, of Davis. The Press Democrat said published reports describe her as a candidate for the Davis Joint Unified school board.
What happens next
Students planned to place small Pride flags on the school's front lawn at 7:45 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14. Wake UP Sonoma president Lisa Storment said they don't technically break the policy but will most likely be removed. Supporters hope to bring the policy back once new trustees are seated in December. Guzman is running unopposed, and two candidates are running for Landry's seat, since she isn't seeking re-election. See our Nov. 3, 2026 election guide for other local school board races, including the San Francisco school board election.