We’re not at all surprised that the high school students — 20-plus strong — who met with School Committee members and the interim superintendent on a school flag policy were prepared, articulate and passionate, but we sure are proud.
Committee members Jenn Schaeffner and Alison Taylor deserve credit, too, for holding the forum to invite student feedback, after putting forward an earlier plan which left many feeling unrepresented and unheard.
That initial proposal, to ensure compliance with a Supreme Court case, would require the removal of emblems inside the school, such as Pride flags and Black Lives Matter banners, while allowing only the state, town and POW/MIA flags to fly outdoors.
Student Maren Potter summed up the sentiment of 106 of 107 students who responded to a recent survey and others who have spoken out by noting that approach “may be the most simple way to deal with this issue of creating a flag policy.” Maren continued, “However, I believe, like many in this room, that it is more important to create safe, inclusive learning spaces where students can thrive and feel comfortable being who they are.”
Most impressive to us is that the students didn’t just attend the forum to protest. They provided their own well-thought out — and legally reviewed — plan. Theirs would adopt the outside-the-building policy proposed by the School Committee, but inside, they asserted, a decision-making process designed to include the administration and students would allow a fairer and more representative outcome, in compliance with the legal concerns raised.
“Then, within the schools, the decision rests in school administration, and we hope to further work with administration to incorporate students into these decisions, maybe through the new Anti-Discrimination Committee or forming a board of students, staff and teachers,” Potter said.
This seems to us a fitting resolution, as well as a shining example of respectful dialogue leaders at all levels of government should emulate.
The Current Editorial Board
The members of the Current’seditorial board are Bob Peck, chairman of the Current; Virginia Buckingham, president of the Current's board of directors; board member Brian Birke, Current editorial staff member Kris Olson, and Joseph P. Kahn, a retired Boston Globe journalist.
