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North Shore town weighs new flag policy that would ban Black Lives Matter, Pride flags from schools

Marblehead High School students spoke out against a draft policy banning identity flags from school grounds.

February 15, 2025

2 minutes to read

About a dozen Marblehead High School students spoke out Thursday against a proposed flag policy that would remove Pride, Black Lives Matter, and Juneteenth flags from school grounds.

The draft flag policy would only allow certain flags on campus, including the American, Massachusetts, Marblehead, and POW-MIA flags. However, several high schoolers have urged school officials to allow student input into the policy.

The students shared their concerns with School Committee members and Superintendent John Robidoux on Thursday and presented a counterproposal to the flag policy, according to a report by the Marblehead Current.

At Thursday’s discussion, student Maren Potter told officials that flags and banners hung at the school are “crucial to creating a safe, inclusive community showing that all students are important and represented,” according to the Current.

“What we are looking for is a policy that will give space for students to have a say in which flags are hung instead of just banning them all. The latter may be the most simple way to deal with this issue of creating a flag policy,” Potter said. “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.”

The counterproposal asks that students play a major role in deciding which flags to hang on school grounds based on the values of the student population.

School Committee Chair Jennifer Schaeffner pointed to a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that found Boston violated the First Amendment by denying a Christian group’s request to fly a religious flag outside City Hall.

“Here’s the challenge. Suppose that someone comes forward with a flag that they want to be displayed that you don’t either agree with or you find offensive. There would be an obligation for them to be able to show that unless there is some reason that it doesn’t reflect the value and mission of the school. But it could still be offensive, or at least concerning. So how do we sort of reconcile that?” Schaeffner said, according to a Patch.com report.

Potter said the students’ proposed flag policy abides by the Supreme Court ruling and has been reviewed by lawyers at GLAD-GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, according to the Current. The proposal also considers input from parents, teachers, and community members.

“We believe this policy would be more effective in protecting student voice and representation, which is crucial in creating a more inclusive community that represents all of its members, which is especially important in a school,” Potter said.

School officials said they plan to hold a community forum on the flag policy, though no date has been announced.