Jason Sutter, Superintendent of Sonoma Valley Unified School District, was a strong presence among the students at Sonoma Valley High School during the October 13 noontime walkout. On that day, several hundred students left classes to demonstrate for the return of the Pride Flag to its flagpole at the entrance to the campus. “I was there to support our students,” he stated simply. “I wanted to be sure the students could safely exercise their First Amendment rights.”
Sutter confirmed that many administrative staff from the District office, and from the High School, were also present. “Regardless of the issue,” he added, “we will be there with our students to support them.”
The new superintendent, in his first full semester in office, said, “I am really proud of the students,” explaining that they initiated and organized the peaceful demonstration. Their action was in protest of the School Board’s October 8 decision to remove the Pride Flag from its flagpole at the front of their campus, where it had been flying since 2019. The Trustees voted, in a 3–2 split decision, to fly only the U.S. and California flags on the school’s four flag poles…