MARBLEHEAD — After an administrator requested a flag policy two years ago, the School Committee has been working to bring one to fruition. But they want to hear what the students and community have to say first.
According to the committee, if an administrator requests a policy and there isn’t one in place, the committee is in charge of creating said policy. This is what happened in 2022. Yet as the committee is faced with creating a flag policy, some disagree with the action.
At the School Committee meeting on Thursday, committee members as well as Interim Superintendent John Robidoux briefly discussed the topic.
“There was some public comment at our subcommittee meeting, particularly around wanting to have additional input from students and from the community,” said Co-Chair Jenn Schaeffner. “What we decided to do, we’re going to schedule a student forum and a community forum.”
The forum would allow a space for students, who typically can’t attend subcommittee or School Committee meetings due to extracurricular activities, to share their thoughts and opinions on the flag policy.
As mentioned at the policy subcommittee meeting on Jan. 15, numerous people gave public comments in defense of the students who can’t attend a 9:30 a.m. meeting because they’re in school. Community members expressed their frustration with the committee for the time of the meeting and the overall flag policy prompting a need for the forums.
Initially, Schaeffner brought up the student forum to be held on Feb. 13, a Thursday night without a School Committee meeting. Co-Chair Sarah Fox then asked if it would be possible to hold the forum during a magic block period so it does to conflict with the student’s extracurriculars.
“My concern is if we have it outside of the school day, these students are so scheduled with sports, extracurriculars, tutoring, jobs, or volunteering, that we’re really then limiting who can give feedback,” said Fox.
Fox added the idea of the forum being held during the lunch periods to ensure all students get the chance to be involved and have their voices heard. Schaeffner followed up with concern on the time restraint during a lunch period and not wanting the student’s time to speak to be shortened.
Schaeffner also expressed wanting the administration to communicate to the students they can reach out to the School Committee through email, phone, or coming to public comment. She said they would make themselves available if some students can’t attend the forum if it’s held outside of school hours.
As for the community forum, the committee said they are still figuring a date and time for it.
According to the community, coming from public comment, flags, and banners are just one way students can express themselves or their beliefs and the committee is taking that into heavy consideration when determining the structure of the policy.
“It’s just really important, I think to give all students a chance to do that,” Fox said regarding students expressing their opinions.
