A few days ago, the PTA of PS 110 (124 Monitor Street) reported via Instagram that the school’s Black Lives Matter Flag had been stolen and replaced by an All Lives Matter flag. The group says that this is the third time this school year that this occurred.
The Community Education Council of District 14, a parent group representing the school district of which PS 110 belongs, responded to the act on Instagram as well.
“This is obviously a vile act under any circumstances but particularly violent in the context of COVID which continues to impact Black communities most viciously and as Black History Month and Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action are just days away,” they wrote in a post on January 28.
Over the past few years, various parent groups in District 14 have charged that school administrators and officials have not taken seriously incidents of racism, homophobia, and transphobia that parents and students alike say they have endured.
In 2020, the group Parents for Change at PS 132 created a petition and eventually obtained legal counsel to hold the school accountable for failing to meet the anti-racist curriculum commitments they promised to implement.
Last year, the PTA at PS 147 found that the school’s Black Lives Matter Week of Action faced pushback from other parents who were opposed to the week’s celebration of all identities, including those that are queer or gender non-conforming.
The CEC of District 14 says they have been pressuring higher-ups to take more decisive action. “Since June 2020, CEC 14 has called for an accountability team comprised primarily of students, families, educators and school staff that can provide insight and oversight to the DOE central and district teams,” CEC 14’s Instagram post continues.
State Senator Julia Salazar shared on Twitter that she “fully supports” CEC 14’s demands for accountability.
It is unclear who is behind the theft, and if it is the same perpetrator for each incident.