When it comes to pride flags in classrooms, Iowa isn’t alone with its share of activist educators. While I have seen a number of pride flags in Iowa schools, I haven’t, to my knowledge, seen one in a classroom like this pride flag in a Virginia school.
This flag is reportedly in a first-grade classroom at Tussing Elementary School in Colonial Heights, VA. A classroom teacher called Tracey Ridpath posted photos to Facebook last year from inside her classroom with the pride flag clearly visible. Ridpath is a first-grade teacher.
This year, when a district employee was honored and photographed, you can see the pride flag hanging in the room.
Ridpath was the 2018-19 Colonial Heights Public Schools Division Teacher of the Year. And it appears no time of year is off limits to push the agenda, as highlighted by this photo from December of 2023.
Tracey’s husband, Rick, also teaches in the district. Rick teaches at Colonial Heights Middle School.
According to a Facebook post from Rick Ridpath, the issue of “allyship” for LGBTQ and pride is “personal.”
The board should fire this teacher