Forest Lake Mayor Blake Roberts said Wednesday that he is worried the Forest Lake Area School Board will vote to repeal a ban on the wearing or displaying of the Confederate flag, swastika and KKK signs or symbols on school grounds.
“I think it’s repulsive that they’re even thinking about this,” Roberts told the Pioneer Press. “The fact that we’re even talking about this in 2025 is appalling.”
Forest Lake School Board Chairman Curt Rebelein and Mayor Blake Roberts. (Courtesy of Rebelein and Roberts)
Roberts addressed the issue publicly at the end of the Forest Lake City Council meeting on Monday night. He stated that he met with School Board Chairman Curt Rebelein last week and was dismayed by what he heard.
“It sounds as though he’s interested in removing that (language), so that that there will be an opportunity potentially for people to come to the school in Forest Lake here wearing those symbols of hatred, genocide and lynching,” Roberts said during the meeting. “This is not Forest Lake. We welcome everyone here, and this is a bad look.”
Rebelein, in turn, said Wednesday that he was “very disappointed” that the mayor was inserting himself in the discussion.
“He should take his own advice and stay in his own lane,” Rebelein said. “Mayor Roberts should focus on fiscal responsibility for the residents of Forest Lake. The massive tax increase that Forest Lake subjects residents to year after year is unsustainable for residents and negatively impacts our community and our schools. I’d also suggest that he read the actual text of the proposed policy. If he did, he would quickly realize that the text he is concerned about is monotonous and unnecessary. In fact, over 99 percent of the school districts in Minnesota do not include a list of prohibited items that Mayor Roberts believes to be necessary.”
Rebelein said he read all 331 dress codes across Minnesota school districts over the past week, and “only one other district has a list of prohibited items, and one district has a list of possible example items that may be prohibited.”
“Attempting to list offensive items results in bad policy,” he said. “This concern is why the state and national standard for student dress codes does not focus on itemizing offensive symbols and instead utilizes the language provided by the Supreme Court that anything that materially disrupts the educational process is prohibited. … The other 328 districts across the state utilize the ‘Tinker standard’ and choose not to list prohibited or offensive items. At the moment, Forest Lake has the most prohibitive and ambiguous dress code in the state.”
Policy No. 515
The school board in May held a first reading of the original proposed version of Policy No. 515 that would have followed Minnesota School Board Association model language and removed specific bans on symbols such as swastikas, the KKK and the Confederate flag on clothing.
At the time, Rebelein said the board wanted to align the district’s policies with Minnesota School Board Association recommendations, adhere to state and federal laws, and “provide a consistent process for all activities.”
“This is based on recommendations from our school district attorneys,” Rebelein said at the time. “The proposed policies utilize thoroughly vetted model policies provided by the Minnesota School Board Association, and contain necessary language that does not currently exist in policy … to ensure the district complies with relevant statutes.”
Superintendent Steve Massey told the board in May that the ban was implemented in 1997 after an African-American student was surrounded by a group of students after school and was physically assaulted. The next day, a group of students wore white T-shirts to school to show their support of the racial assault.
Massey told that board that it is important that the specific ban of the three symbols remain in Policy No. 515.
School board meeting Thursday
Roberts said Wednesday that he has reached out to the other school board members and hopes to hear back so he can express the same sentiment.
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“All you have to do is Google ‘Forest Lake,’ and this is the crap that comes up right now,” Roberts said at the council meeting on Monday night. “I am extremely upset about this. I will be speaking at the school board meeting on Thursday against it. I’ve reached out to a number of board members, and I will continue to do so. Forest Lake is much better than this, and we cannot let this happen to our school and to our community.”
Roberts said Wednesday that he expects the school board meeting to be packed on Thursday.
“I really do believe that elected officials should stay in their own lane and not try to get into the business of another board, but on something like this, I have to speak out,” Roberts said. “Our staff, our council, all of our employees, we can do as much as we want to try and bring business and new residents to our city, but if all you have to do is Google ‘Forest Lake’ and some of this stuff comes up, we’re just wasting our time because people don’t want to live in an area where this is even being considered.”
The Forest Lake school board meets at 6 p.m. Thursday in the District Office Boardroom, 6100 N. 210th St.
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