A federal appeals court has ruled that a New York public school district did not violate three teachers’ First Amendment rights when it ordered them to remove Pride flags and stickers from their classrooms.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit Monday brought by teachers Christopher Dolce, Sarah Ecke and Shinaide McAleavey-Polley against the Connetquot Central School District on Long Island.
The teachers, who identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community, argued that the district violated their constitutional rights by restricting Pride flags and stickers while allegedly allowing other flags, signs and stickers to remain in the school.
The appeals court disagreed.
I left the mainstream media to go independent. If you haven’t signed up as a paid subscriber to support my work do so now for less than $1 per week. Click button below.
Writing for the court, Circuit Judge Alison Nathan said decorations placed on classroom walls and doors by public school teachers are connected to their official duties because teachers are expected to create classroom environments that support the curriculum.
The court concluded that those decorations can therefore constitute government speech rather than the teachers’ private speech.
“Those decorations are thus the Government’s speech, and the First Amendment does not apply to them,” the court said.
The dispute began during the 2022-23 school year at Connetquot Central High School. Ecke, a math teacher and adviser to the school’s Gay Straight Alliance, had displayed two Pride flags in her classroom, including a progress Pride flag.
According to the court, some students reported feeling uncomfortable with the progress Pride flag being displayed in their math classroom. District officials subsequently directed Ecke to remove it and offered her a sign reading, “This is a safe space to be who you are.”
The district later informed employees that its policy prohibited political activities on school property and that only American and New York state flags could be displayed in classrooms and offices.
The high school principal subsequently ordered faculty members to remove unauthorized flags. The district also prohibited flag stickers on classroom doors and windows.
The teachers alleged the rules were not applied evenly. According to their complaint, a French flag remained in a French classroom because it supported the curriculum, while sports flags and stickers supporting groups such as Students Against Drunk Driving and an anti-bullying club also remained in parts of the school.
The teachers sued, alleging violations of the First and Fourteenth amendments as well as federal, state and local employment discrimination laws.
The Second Circuit rejected their First Amendment argument under the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2006 decision in Garcetti v. Ceballos, which allows government employers to control speech made by public employees as part of their official duties.
The appeals court stressed, however, that its decision does not mean everything a teacher says or displays inside a classroom automatically becomes government speech.
The court specifically distinguished classroom decorations from personal expression such as a Pride flag pin worn on a teacher’s clothing or a photograph of a same-sex spouse. Those items would not necessarily become government speech merely because they are visible inside a classroom.
The judges also rejected the teachers’ equal protection claims, finding they had not plausibly alleged that the district selectively enforced its policies because of anti-LGBTQ+ motivation.
The court additionally concluded that the teachers had not suffered an adverse employment action sufficient to support their employment discrimination claims.
The three-judge panel affirmed the lower court’s dismissal of the lawsuit.
The case is Dolce v. Connetquot Central School District, No. 25-1197. The decision was issued Aug. 31.
