Marblehead High School students, parents, and community members came out to protest the School Committee’s drafted flag policy Wednesday afternoon at the Jacobi Community Center.
Organized by the Marblehead High School Democrats, students protested against the committee’s decision not to allow any flags other than the American, Commonwealth, and Town flags to fly on school property without its permission.
Students could be seen holding up multiple signs with messages like “Listen to Us!!” and “Stop the Censorship.”
Marblehead High School Democrats Co-Chair Sophia Weiner had a simple message for the School Committee.
“We’re definitely hoping to work with them, and we just want them to think of inclusivity and to listen to us,” she said.
Former School Committee member Sarah Gold and former Town Officials Jackie and David Belf-Becker also attended to support the students.
The committee drafted a policy after then-acting Superintendent Michelle Cresta requested that the committee look into its policies after an unauthorized parent removed a Black Lives Matter flag from the high school’s cafeteria. The incident created a divide among community members and parents on whether or not flags should be allowed to be displayed on school grounds and who has the authority to take them down or hang them up.
Members of the Marblehead Racial Justice Team participated in the protest as well. The MRJT has strongly voiced its support for students at the high school, specifically regarding the flag controversy. MMRJT member and Pastor at Clifton Lutheran Church James Bixby explained why it’s important for the organization to back the students.
“The start, beginning, and end of this all is that students ought to have a voice in this,” Bixsby said. “This is an issue that affects students. It affects the diversity of all the different students we have.”
“At the end of the day, the power is up there,” Bixsby added, pointing to the crowd of students at the protest.
The School Committee will meet Thursday at 7 p.m., where members of the Marblehead High School Democrats are expected to propose the creation of a board, composed of MHS students, that will “decide the fate of flags in our schools,” according to a social media post on the club’s Instagram page.
