Pride flag disappears at Harwood Union Middle and High School

This story by Lisa Scagliotti was first published at the Waterbury traffic circle on June 11.

The Pride flag that had flown on the flagpole outside Harwood Union Middle and High School for three weeks was stolen over the weekend, school administrators announced Tuesday.

In a letter to the school's students, staff and families, Superintendent Mike Leichliter along with co-superintendents Megan McDonough and Laurie Greenberg shared news of the theft and promised to replace the flag, which was supposed to fly until at the end of June in observance of Pride Month.

Based on security camera footage, school officials said they determined that “at 11:57 p.m. on Saturday, June 8, 2024, two unidentified individuals lowered the flag of the United States and the flag of the pride of the Harwood Union High School flagpole. The individuals then immediately raised the American flag again and stole the Pride flag.

Leichliter said those involved were wearing hooded clothing and could not be identified from the footage. School leaders have asked anyone with information about the incident to contact the school administration. The incident was also reported to Vermont State Police, Leichliter said.

The Vermont State Police also has an anonymous tip line where the public can submit information to aid in an investigation.

This is the third year a Pride flag has been flown in Harwood in June for National Pride Month.

“June is Pride Month and is dedicated to celebrating and remembering lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) pride. Since 2022, Harwood students have shown overwhelming support by asking the HUUSD School Board to raise the Pride Flag at Harwood in support of our LGBTQ+ students as well as in commemoration of the LGBTQ+ community as a whole,” the letter states administrators.

“The school is in the process of obtaining a replacement flag and will fly it again through the month of June as approved by the HUUSD Board of Education,” school leaders said.

Last month, the Harwood Unified Union School Board approved a request from the Harwood High School Gender and Sexuality Alliance club to fly the LGBTQIA+ pride flag from May 17 through the end of June.

This year's request called for the flag to be raised in May to coincide with an event the school club was hosting on May 18, the Outright Vermont Queer & Allied Youth Summit.

In reviewing the reporting request, the school board also reviewed student survey data. The district's flag policy requires that requests to fly a flag other than that of the United States or Vermont be accompanied by a survey to gauge support from the school community.

This year, the request for a pride flag was the subject of a survey with 250 responses: 62% in favor and 38% against flying the pride flag. In 2023, a similar survey received 297 responses, but found 78% were in favor of the request.

At the time of the survey, Life LeGeros, a Duxbury school board member who chairs the school board's equity committee, called the decline in support for displaying the flag “a very concerning trend.”

On Tuesday, the school's co-directors and principal expressed their disappointment at this hostile act.

“It is disappointing to know that individuals in our community would display an openly hostile attitude and disrespect the voices of our student body. These actions are unacceptable and do not represent the values ​​and character of our schools,” they wrote.