![]() The Waukesha County school board was more explicit with its guidance on LGBTQ students, earlier this year approving a resolution that encourages teachers to avoid using a student’s preferred nickname or pronouns unless they’ve received written approval from the student’s parent. He told CNN that the district has its own “ Commitment to All” poster in both English and Spanish to reinforce that students are “respected,” “belong” and “have a voice.” Sebert said some signage has been taken down in accordance with the policy that resulted in the “Rainbowland” ban, but did not specifically refer to signage with rainbows. She said that last year, administrators asked teachers throughout the district to take down rainbow decor and to stop wearing rainbow lanyards or clothing. ![]() Tempel, who is worried the ban of “Rainbowland” is tied to broader efforts to curb discussion of LGBTQ topics in classrooms, said school district officials have tried to remove other references to rainbows in schools. School districts across the US remove rainbow imagery When reached by CNN, Waukesha school district Superintendent James Sebert did not specify why “Rainbowland” was deemed controversial. Per the Waukesha school district’s policy, a “controversial issue” is one that “may be the subject of intense public argument” or may have “political, social or personal impacts and/or the community,” among other criteria. “The love and acceptance piece, and being who you are, I don’t think there’s anything political about that.” “We’re trying to support inclusivity,” she said. Tempel said that “Rainbowland” isn’t “just a song.” “(It would be great) if we all did come together to create and said, ‘Hey, we’re different, that’s awesome, let’s not change to be the same, let’s stay different but let’s come together anyway.’ Because a rainbow’s not a rainbow without all the different colors,” Cyrus told NME. “It’s really about if we could love one another a little better or be a little kinder, be a little sweeter, we could live in rainbow land,” Parton said of the song in 2017, while Cyrus separately noted that some of the lyrics nod to “different races and genders and religions.” Representatives for Cyrus and Parton did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. Oh, I’d be lying if I said this was fine, all the hurt and the hate going on here.” ![]() “Living in a Rainbowland, where you and I go hand in hand. “Wouldn’t it be nice to live in paradise, where we’re free to be exactly who we are,” Cyrus and Parton sing. ![]() In a statement, the district said it called for the song to be removed because its lyrics “could be deemed controversial” according to a school board policy on controversial issues in the classroom. “My students loved it immediately,” Tempel told CNN of her classroom’s reaction to “Rainbowland.”īut within one day of students learning the song, Tempel said that school administration asked her to remove “Rainbowland” from the concert. Her first graders, she said, need as much time as they can get to learn the songs by heart ahead of the concert, just before Mother’s Day. Tempel started rehearsing with her students as soon as the song was suggested by another faculty member and approved by Tempel and her co-teacher. Students were also set to perform “Rainbowland,” a 2017 duet by Miley Cyrus and her godmother, Dolly Parton, with lyrics that advocate for inclusion. Among the songs they selected: “It’s a Small World,” sung in Spanish, and “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles. Tempel and her co-teacher, dual-language instructors at the school, wanted the concert to have a theme of world unity and peace. Melissa Tempel’s first grade class at Heyer Elementary School in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, has spent weeks preparing for its upcoming spring concert.
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