Symbols in schools discussion leads to demonstration

By Camila Orti

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    NEWBERG, Oregon (KPTV) — Conversations around what sort of imagery does or does not belong in schools continue in the town of Newberg.

Sunday afternoon, a group of around 100 people gathered on the corner of River Street and Highway 99W as a response to the ongoing discussions regarding “controversial political symbols” in schools.

At the start of the school year, school board members voted to ban teachers from wearing or displaying political symbols. That included Black Lives Matter material or pride flags.

Last Wednesday, the board held a special meeting to hear public comment on the matter. The board is set to meet again on Tuesday.

More recently, an elementary school staff member was put on administrative leave after showing up to work in Blackface to reportedly protest the protocols for unvaccinated employees.

Many people in the group held Black Lives Matter signs and rainbow pride flags to show support for those in the BIPOC and LGBTQ communities.

“Our concern is for the kids in the school right now and for the climate that it creates for them,” a community member, Kim, told FOX 12.

Another demonstrator said the group also met as a counter-protest to an event called “Educate Don’t Indoctrinate” that was set to be held outside of a Newberg church Sunday afternoon. The flier circulated on social media for the event had bullet points that read “stand for our children” and “our school system is not a political playground.”

Audrey Wojnarowisch said that event drew Proud Boys to the area, but that cars blocked the entrance to the location the group was planning on, so they came to where she and other counter protestors were located along Highway 99W.

“We intentionally organized our counter protest in a separate location so that we would not interfere with them,” Wojnarowisch said.

When FOX 12 arrived at the demonstration location, groups of people carrying American flags and wearing clothing with the golden rooster Proud Boys motif were milling around the counter protestors. The 30 or so people dispersed shortly after the FOX 12 crew set up the camera.

Wojnarowisch said moments prior there were some tense confrontations and shouting.

“They tried to come into, many times, the spaces where we were protesting and push us away,” Wojnarowisch said.

She mentioned some people were forced into the busy street.

Yamhill County deputies and Newberg police officers were nearby keeping an eye on the situation, but told FOX 12 that nothing unlawful happened during the event, and nobody was hurt.

Kim, who lives in Newberg, said she stopped by the demonstration to hear opposing viewpoints.

“We are kind of new in Newberg,” she said. “But we’ve heard a lot of news about what’s going on in the schools and we wanted to come out and see what both sides were saying to each other.”

In recent weeks, some community members have told FOX 12 that they feel allowing staff members to display BLM or pride imagery sends a political message that doesn’t belong in public schools.

Kim believes the problem is finding common ground.

“There’s really strong positions that people don’t seem to know how to come together for solutions on,” she said.

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