Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on June 30, 2025
BOISE, ID – The “Everyone is Welcome Here” sign that sparked a viral nationwide controversy can no longer be displayed in Idaho schools, according to an Idaho attorney general’s office opinion released late Friday.
The revelation became public a day after Idaho EdNews received a redacted version of the opinion, which the Idaho Department of Education used to write its guidance on the flags-in-schools law.
House Bill 41, which goes into effect Tuesday, prohibits flags or banners depicting a political viewpoint from public K-12 schools. The law’s vague language led to questions from educators and school leaders.
The IDE asked the attorney general’s office on March 28 for guidance on the new law. It took the attorney general’s office until May 29 to provide a response. The department then took nearly another month to provide guidance to school districts, which it did Thursday.
That guidance said school employees cannot display flags or banners that show opinions, emotions, beliefs or thoughts about politics, economics, society, faith or religion. The guidance and the attorney general’s opinion did not define these terms.
The attorney general’s opinion released to EdNews Thursday had one section redacted, pertaining to signs West Ada School District teacher Sarah Inama had displayed in her classroom for years. One sign read “Everyone is Welcome Here.”
West Ada administrators said the signs — including one displaying open hands of different skin tones — violated district policy. Inama refused to remove the sign, and in March, her story attracted national media coverage.
The IDE asked the attorney general’s office if Inama’s signs in particular violated the new law.
The attorney general’s office said yes.
“These signs are part of an ideological/social movement which started in Twin Cities, Minnesota following the 2016 election of Donald Trump,” the attorney general’s response reads. “Since that time, the signs have been used by the Democratic party as a political statement. The Idaho Democratic Party even sells these signs as part of its fundraising efforts.”
The opinion then links to a news story from a Minnesota news station back in 2017 when a group of women came together against hate after racist graffiti appeared at Maple Grove High School the day after Trump’s 2016 election. Their signs read “All are Welcome Here.” The founders of the movement told the TV station that their movement was about combating hate and was nonpartisan and secular.
The signs were popular at Minnesota schools, according to the story.
The Idaho Democratic Party did not begin selling the signs until March 25, after Inama’s story went viral, communications director Avery Roberts said. Roberts said the signs and stickers are sold nearly at cost and aren’t a tool to make money but instead to show support for Inama and inclusivity.
“Across the state, parents and teachers, regardless of their political affiliations, want children to have a fair shot. They’re working hard to build strong public schools where every student feels welcome and has the support they need to succeed,” Roberts wrote in an email to EdNews. “What matters is the message. Taking a stand against discrimination shouldn’t be a partisan issue, and we hope leaders in every party see it that way.”
The opinion went on to note that Inama began displaying the signs in 2017, shortly after Trump’s first election, and that Inama said she hung the sign to “share her personal, ideological beliefs.”
Inama did not respond to request for comment.
In a March interview, Inama told EdNews that she found the West Ada’s request to remove the signs “disturbing,” and said it seemed like district officials were trying to avoid potential complaints from people with “exclusionary” beliefs.
“That’s appeasing, not a political view, but a bigoted view that shouldn’t even be considered by a public school district,” Inama said.
Where she first went public with the story, she said administrators told her the signs were not “content neutral,” and were “a personal opinion,” she told KTVB. “I was told … that ‘everyone is welcome here’ is not something that everybody believes.”
Inama disagreed. “I feel like this is the basis of public education.”
Following Inama’s KTVB interview, dozens of Boise School District leaders and teachers sported “Everyone is Welcome Here” T-shirts in a social media post. Boise hired Inama to teach there next school year. Inama told EdNews earlier this month she planned to put up her inclusive signs in her new Boise classroom.
The IDE decided to release the unredacted attorney general’s opinion at 5:30 p.m. Friday. The department did not explain the timing, and has yet to respond to a request for comment.
Read the full opinion here.