School Committee: February 26, 2025

Transcript captured from YouTube auto-captioning. No speaker labels; proper names and dollar figures occasionally misheard. Click any timecode to jump to that moment in the source video.

0:42 all right I’m gonna pause I’m gonna let folks

1:58 is this a or sign a sign to speak

2:22 20 okay Frank I’m gonna call us to order at 701 welcome everyone good evening I’m calling the policy subcommittee meeting to order at

2:37 7:01 thank everyone for attending I’m going to start the record the live stream and the

3:05 try this again oh no it says live stream okay so we’re live streaming and recording okay we’re live everybody okay welcome thanks everyone for attending I’m Jen shaffner chair Mar school committee I’m here with Allison Taylor uh together we are the policy subcommittee I wanted this to be a little bit more the lack of a better term intimate but um so I know it’s a little formal in terms of how we’re set up however because we’re doing this hybrid this is the camera Frank’s running the um you know the the system over there so this is how we have to do it so that the folks online can see and hear us and you and we it will be recorded properly so I I appreciate your understanding so what we’re going to ask is um first of all that folks come up to

3:51 the that would like to speak come up to the uh chair here and um just give us your name and address if you wouldn’t mind yep this is the microphone so you should be able the speakers are right there you should be able to hear us amplify okay good um so we’re gonna ask folks to come up to the seat here give us your name and address and and share your thoughts with us I’ll cover the topic in just a second we also have folks online so we’re gonna need also to um allow the folks online to have a chance to speak too right now I’ve got around 20 folks um lined up and I don’t know how many um people of the 356 we have online are going to want to speak so I’m not you know I wasn’t

4:37 thinking that this would be as formal as our public comment where we have a three minute limit but I would ask you to try to keep it to about three minutes because um there are a lot of folks who want to speak and and we want to make this uh meaningful but not too long my goal was for about an hour and a half that’s not a hard and fast rule but I or time but I’d like to keep it to that you know if we go over that’s okay but I think that’s a reasonable amount of time so I appre I appreciate folks sort of self self governing that thank you um so we’re here tonight this is the policy subcommittee we’re here tonight as part of our um ongoing meetings that we’ve been having in regards to a potential flag policy this does go back at least a year looking at my notes um we had a couple of interruptions in

5:25 over the course of the last year um but we this initially the Genesis of this came to us from The princial Who had um some different requests from different community members and students about wanting to display certain bags of flags of banners in the high school and so she came to the then superintendent and asked about whether we have a flag policy in if do we have one and if we don’t have one would we consider setting one and we were not alone in this this was going on in other some other school districts and other municipalities in Massachusetts and across I guess across the country but certainly in in massach Metts so we’re not alone in this we had a couple of several meetings or a couple meetings we talked about one or two different draft versions that our

6:10 attorney had drafted for us and we did get a lot of feedback particularly feedback or concern from students here at the high school we sponsored three um student forums uh or listening sessions as we call them um we had a couple of them last fall and then we just had one two weeks ago here at the library um and we also said that we would do a community Forum so that’s what we’re doing tonight which just’s an opportunity for members of the community to share with us your thoughts um in regards to the drafting of a flag policy for the marble in public schools um it’s important to note the town of Marblehead also has a flag policy that was drafted by the or approved by the select board about a year ago their policy um uh

6:56 specifically excludes the school buildings so had that not been the case we would have sensibly come under their policy but we don’t so that’s where we are um so with that I’d like to just open it up I I think that you know we want to hear from you I you know I’m not sure that we’re here to listen to you the community so well we’re certainly here to we can answer questions or respond back the purpose is to hear from the community and that’s that’s our goal for tonight so I appreciate your understanding that um so I’m going to grab this list if anybody would like to add their name just raise your hand when we get through this list I think we’ve got and people online too yeah I think we’ll do the folks here in person first and then we’ll to online or we can go back and forth I

7:42 don’t let’s see how we how quick how we get through this through this all right we have U first um John De John whle welcome so if you don’t mind coming sitting here and just again name and address if you’re comfortable and then share that’s

8:00 your with old 106 attic venue here in model head and uh as I’ve been thinking about this since the uh last Forum you had with the students uh I’m thinking that there are call it minority groups who who are May tend to experience uh uh bullying or uh or unfavorable comments

8:37 Prejudice you can think of for example whether there’s anti-Semitism whether there’s something like uh homophobia whether there’s racism other things people might might feel uh preice against them and having an opportunity at some point to display a flag or Banner can help them to uh feel supported and welcome because obviously the school isn’t a place for people to uh uh to express negative feelings or more still

9:26 to bully people from from a particular subgroup that that they may be pre against rather we try to eliminate prejudice and discrimination so so how you go about allowing them where the decision is to be made which seem to me probably uh the principal’s office would be the main place where somebody could come and say uh I like to display this ban or this flag for this occasion uh for uh for support so that’s that’s basically it there something that would put the uh School in a way

10:15 behind uh efforts to overcome discrimination Prejudice and uh bullying that might be dis um that might be inspired by pred or or that sort of thing so thank you thank you D um I David M yes now since this is very much about the students we y to Jack okay are you gonna speak afterwards okay thank you welcome you welcome Jack um I’m Jack mcis 16 stre so I’m here on behalf of the students of Marblehead middle state so I wrote a statement

11:01 head middle state so I wrote a statement um with some of my PE not by shars I believe like many of my peers nvms that this fly band polic is an unnecessary breach of Freedom that takes away choice and stifles expression after hearing about this a few months ago I was Disturbed to learn only the other day that basically everyone at my school had no idea this was even happening and many of them were in fed to learn so you h a for at the high school exactly at the time what school that so even if some ndms students knew about it what they didn’t they wouldn’t be able to attend the student body at the middle school who expects heavily should absolutely be given to say they have not been given this

11:43 far on Monday I released an online petition to mbms students asking them if they wanted to form at their school and informing them in the first place like they should have been about this issue so far by Word of Mouth alone I have over 60 people that have signed saying they agree have been given the opportunity to write some statements about how they feel on this pulse um in the interest of time I will not of course share all of them but here are some of them um n gr said quote flags are way to express yourself if we are encouraged to be ourselves a schol why are they taking away the choice to put up Flags another eighth grader said flages matter to me because I think they are a way of being able to represent yourself and you and your family’s history and culture I think flags are a strong way to represent yourself and how

12:29 you identify human being I want to emphasize with the next few quotes how many students agree with the sentiment that a choice is being taken away from them by this subject quote students are the ones who see the flags the most the majority of the people at the school are students the majority of the people should be the ones deciding not the school

12:55 committee another student said students make up the majority of the school’s population and they must have a right to have say in these decisions it’s vital that people are able to express themselves and they should be able to have Flags around the school and finally I’ll just say one more quote I think censorship um quote I think censorship in general is terrible in cens life is very random and uned I will stand by having sles of all types as long as they are not anti-semitic racist Etc in my school also kid voices should be the ones heard since we are the people being affected in the person there are many other statements that Echo these sentiments and from what I understand only a small fraction ofms even knows about this yet the high

13:42 schoolers have put forward a compromise that works to sum up what my peers have said the flight policy is rooted in censoring expression and taking a choice away from the majority of people it will affect it’s completely unwarranted and unwanted don’t just take my word for it give the students the form we deserve and you can see for your thank you thank you

14:15 no Lou Lou oh there I’m sorry I didn’t see sorry looking for you in the B welcome second time

14:27 today thank you for R made one Carol lady s m formerly 16 sh of Marblehead Marblehead racial Justice team issued a statement in May 2021 when the matter of objection to Black lives matter banners in schools initially came up quote the mar Ral Justice them is always supported what the banner says not what it doesn’t black lives matter means just what it says people who try to make those great words say something else or pursuing another their own agenda in this moment that call solidar Marblehead Justice team maintains its commitment to stand with all people who desire peace and Justice and quot the Marblehead head MX those three words need to Marblehead MX those three words need to

15:13 be a message with ongoing visibility and Community acknowledgement as you heard from one of the students on February 13th at your other for there’s not a single issue in America today where someone is not going to oppose it and sense that it is great in our town a principal St by an elected body will Express support for those three words black lives matter this satisfying how in the pass the mar school committee has adopted principal St when in the 1960s there was a school committee involed to participate in medo early on that program existence when in the 1980s the school committee supported service of the Medco board of directors by then superintendent James Ken when recent

15:58 while ration Justice team received school department approval to rant MHS Auditorium for presentations by acclaimed writer Shay Stewart boly of the black girl main blog and Debbie Irving author of the book waking up white when in 2021 a school committee vote adopted the nomination to name a school in to and recognition ofre and Joseph those are examples of the what the three words black glass matter signify in the context of Marblehead messages please do not abandon a black lives matter Banner however you construct your poliy thank thank

16:42 you do a few I’ll go like halfway down and then maybe switch to online and then switch back just so respecting people’s time um uh Karen tell welcome

17:04 um my name is Karen I live at 11 Ro in Marblehead Hood I’m here today to express my Marblehead I’m here today to express my support to the proposed flag policy without clear guidelines schools are left to make subjective decisions about which flags may be displayed on school property creating unnecessary conflict and division within our community as public institutions funded by the government schools must adhere to constitutional principles and remain neutral in matters of religion and poliy the absence of a flag policy has led to tension among students parents and staff we set a foster Unity that’s created in an environment where certain groups feel prioritized over others and voices that question these displays are often silenc a school should be a place where all

17:51 students feel Lov him and safe not just the not just those who align with particular belief systems represented by certain Flags some argue that specific Flags make them feel included but if a school permits symbols that affirm one group’s beliefs should it not ensure other groups feel equally represented the challenge of determining which groups are marginalized and therefore deserve to have fls displayed is exactly why a clear consistent policy is needed without one schools will be forced to continually debate the legitimacy of certain symbols an unnecessary distraction from the primary mission of Education much the opposition to this policy has been focused on the potential removal of the BLM and pride Flags however I found it telling that there

18:37 was little concern when an Israeli flag was displayed and later removed where was the same outcry from those who opposed this policy this inconsistency reveals a double standard that further demonstrates why schools should not be in the business of deciding which flags are acceptable the lack of a plag policy led to a person removing a symbol that to many represents the Jewish people this person felt that he or she had the authority to decide that the Israeli flag did not represent a marginalized group of people despite the fact that according to FBI statistics Jews experienced the highest number of religiously motivated hate crimes in order to fer a truly inclusive and neutral environment schools must refrain from endorsing political symbols whether

19:23 secular or religious if students wish to express their personal beliefs there are a number of ways they may do so without forcing the public school to endorse a particular point of view school should focus on providing a strong academic foundation for all of our students as well as supporting students who wish to engage in debating Hot Topics but with guidance from adults and without the school being compelled to adopt a certain belief on a personal note I recently received an anonymous letter meant to intimidate me after I wrote to the local paper about the removal of the Israel flag instead of engaging in open dialogue the sender chose harassment a troubling reflection of the hostility that emerges around controversial issues as an adult I can handle this but

20:09 imagine being 14 15 or 16 years old and expressing similar views would you feel safe and comfortable in your school no student parent or Community never should ever fear speaking their mind during these divisive times I think back to when I was in school I cannot imagine how much harder it would have been if expressing an opinion meant facing harassment or explusion that is why support this flag policy it is a necessary step to ensure that our schools remain places of Education not political Arenas all students deserve to learn an environment free from ideological pressure where neutrality Fosters Unity rather than division thank you thank

21:04 good evening h m pepper 41 jut Street I want to comment not on plags themselves but on the process by which the subcomittee has gone about creating a flight poliy while you claim a policy is legally required after the Supreme Court’s May 2022 shli decision you haven’t acted with any urgency in drafting or implementing a policy rather this process has been a confusing series of starts and stops over the past year and a half now you’ve invited the public here tonight to offer input when there is no Clarity on what draft policy is even being considered in October 2023 you proposed a flag policy that would ban All Flags other than the US Massachusetts Marblehead and prw flags from school but would permit the school committee to approve the display of

21:50 other flags for up to 30 days after public comment on and criticism of that policy including from students who wanted to say in the flags disola in their schools you indicated intent to revise the policy to address those concerns and then did not meet again as a subcommittee until eight months later in July 2024 the July 2024 meeting agenda included item two proposed policies for discussion and review sub a proposed flag and banner policy attached the agenda is a draft policy that states that the US Massachusetts Marblehead and P Flags shall be displaced at believe you might display on school property the draft policy does not include any means by which the display of other flags may

22:36 be requested or approved there was again public opposition to the draft policy in particular at the school committee’s August 2024 Workshop which included discussion of the draft right policy as an agenda item the policy sub committee didn’t meet again until January 2025 at a student Forum earlier this month comments from the subcommittee members and the superintendent indicated that the more restrictive policy the July 2024 meeting agenda was never under consideration by the subit no other draft policy has been put forward by the subcommittee yet you have scheduled tonight’s Forum asking for public comment on the flag policy when the public doesn’t know what policy is actually under consideration by the sub commmittee

23:23 this is not good governments there have been comments about flags at multiple policy subcommittee and full school committee me since you first raised this issue in October 2023 you did not need another public forum in order to gauge public sentiment about the broad General issue of flags and schools holding this forum when the public doesn’t know what draft policy they’re commenting on does little more than allow you to check the box of saying you gave an opportunity for public Feb finally as to the specifics of whatever policy you do end up putting forward for consideration in defending the two draft policies that have been shared with the public youber light on shirt a decision about Flags displayed on flag polls outside of government buildings to justify regulating speech

24:09 inside our schools this expansive reading of shirt lft risks interfering with wellestablished First Amendment rights that exist inside school buildings furthermore it excludes our superintendent and building administrators from decisions about the operation of our schools and it denies students a voice in the cultivation of their educational environment and school culture rather than presenting the public with yet another school committee generated draft FL policy and continuing to drag out this process I urge the subcommittee to move forward with the legally vetted draft policy presented to you by students in early February that policy addresses the concerns the committee has in light of the shli decision while allowing our school administrators and students to make decisions about symbolic speech within our school buildings thank you

25:05 going to Pivot just to go online so if anyone online is interested could you raise your hand someone did have their hand raised now it’s gone Meredith oh Meredith and will so I’m going

25:26 to Y I think we can hear you oh wait awesome great hi I’m I’m Meredith this is will uh we live at 28 Roosevelt AV um and yeah we pretty I’m a former High School teacher and I think uh that school actually is the right place and AD is the right time to debate issues and form opinions um and I think I’m personally very proud of the students of this town who’ve come together and articulated a pretty specific set of things that they want out of this flag policy um and I think that we should follow their lead because they’ve put the time in they’ve considered their thoughts and um being in full-time

26:12 education is the time that you think about issues and you debate topics and you figure out who you are and we should really let students do this in a manner that they are telling us helps them do that thank you thank you

26:32 okay I just try to see if there’s any other hands up on Zoom see any oh Don

26:55 tler tler joh you should be able to unmute

27:11 mute okay hi here we are I think that the the distinction between having the flags outside the school is almost symbolic of uh the fact that it is our government that is is fostering education but inside the School the students uh have the opportunity to express themselves and should have that right it should not be permanent in other words uh letting different ideas come and go uh is something that should be done in our schools it’s it’s

27:57 educational and it’s it’s what is uh prized by us in this country so please consider uh turn keeping the flags up in the school maybe limiting them to how many uh but uh giving students a chance to express themselves very important thank you thank

28:30 you to uh it’s Lori iPhone Lori you should be able to yes can you can you hear me okay yeah L hi um I live uh at 104 Jersey Street and I have a son at the high school um I think what’s really important to realize is that the school is the center of the community and we have a lot of different people within the community attending the school not everybody walks into a school building on equal ground underrepresented people feel safe when they see a sign or a symbol so to them these flags mean something it’s not

29:16 politicizing something it’s an it’s an invitation to feel included in that community and I think that if you don’t realize that then you have a privilege that somebody else doesn’t have if we are truly welcoming all students into our community this is a way for them to have a voice and the reason the students have expressed and used their voice is because they see this too I think we run the risk of reflecting our politics and our bias on something that is simply an invitation to make a safe space for people and I I really you know think about who do we want to be as a community I would I would hope that I

30:04 live in a town that would want people to feel welcome so that they can learn so I think that’s just something everybody ought to

31:32 oh Jen are you there oh can you hear me oh I can’t hear you but if you can hear me just shake your head and then I’ll talk okay oh now I can hear you hi um

31:57 so yeah now I can hear you okay there we go all right Cara I apologize I’ll come right back to you cara sorry there must have been some technical thing go go ahead Sarah hi uh Sarah padian 23 Ida Road um I wasn’t going to speak but I do think it’s important um so I come from a little bit of a different background um I think that you know it’s important for kids and teachers to walk into a building and feel like you know they see a sign and they feel like they’re welcome but I think our society nowadays is turning into you know only feeling comfortable by seeing a sign and I think that we need to teach our children and adults

32:42 that you know we can be acceptable to ourselves and to our community and not have to have all these different flags up I don’t believe that you know it’s possible to have every single flag that’s going to make you know each and every student and teacher feel safe and welcome so I do believe and back when I was in school we only had the American flag um I do believe that you know we do need to go back to that and just have our country’s flag and that’s it and that we need to teach our children that they are strong enough and they accept themselves and we accept them and they don’t need a flag to identify thank you thanks Sarah apprciate

33:32 it here go over to Kira k okay hi okay we can hear you us Kira pck Road and I’ve been thinking at it’s uh Massachusetts has the best schools in the nation and one reason for that is that we have long fostered welcoming environments where quality education is valued over repression censorship and being above the influence of divisive political interference so why are we considering policies that will make Marblehead more like Mississippi um the banners in question aren’t causing any problems for our students or our teachers but removing them would send a shock wave through our classrooms and a message that it’s okay

34:19 to make the most vulnerable kids in our buildings feel like they don’t belong here the policy is permission to be unkind to those who most deserve support and that’s not a lesson we should be teaching a school committee should be focused on student well-being and achievement rather than talking about this issue which helps nobody it hurts many it feels extremely optional so again why um we were told because we’re here because Administration inquired about the flag policy but let’s not forget why they made this inquiry um it’s because a parent um with a particular agenda entered our high school and unlawfully removed a Banner that they that did not belong to them

35:04 and why should this Behavior be rewarded um uh I certainly hate to think that this theft was uh contrived to trigger this desired outcome we’re all still regaining our footing after the strike there’s rain pouring through the high school roof which will require Millions to repair there’s a budget that we need attention to support so we can attract and retain quality staff our brave and bright students have drafted a thoughtful and lawful policy that that’s the best way forward so let’s give them the welcoming environment they’ve asked for and overwhelming numbers and move on the people our town could use a break from all the unnecessary drama as

35:55 well here I’m going to move back now um to folks in person and then we’ll get back to online um so the next one um on the list is Reese

36:28 stalberg hi stalberg hi my name is R Alber I live at six Field grook Road I’m here tonight with Jessica Brown to give a statement on behalf of the Marblehead hunt Pride committee Jessica and I are allies allies show up and speak out on behalf of loved ones friends and Community the Marblehead Hood friends and Community the Marblehead Pride committee urges you to adopt the Marblehead head high school students well Marblehead high school students well researched and legally beded proposed plan policy decisions regarding which banners and flags should hang inside buildings are at their core operational and Beyond the pervie of the school committee regarding the often misinformed notion that if you allow one flag you must allow them all b b offers this citing Supreme Court cases Tinker the hanoy area school district versus BL and

37:14 Siskey versus Warren Hills Regional Board of Education Public Schools May prohibit private oncampus speech only in so far as it substantially interferes with or disrupts the educational environment or interferes with the rights of other students students this Cuts both ways protecting speech that is unpopular or controversial while also giving schools the power to limit speech that is hateful or disrupt however actual evidence or reasonable forecast of substantial disruption is required quote undifferentiated fear or apprehension of disturbance is insufficient policies Banning the random flag or any political material such as banners and flags and schools are not Viewpoint neutral as the removal is premised on the message the rainbow flag

38:02 cones such action absent any evidence of substantial disruption is contrary to the First Amendment protections afforded to students within Public Schools students have the right to convey messages that are often deemed controversial or offensive a quote mere desire to avoid the discomfort and unpleasantness that always accompanies an unpopular Viewpoint canot justify the Restriction of the display of the rainbow flag or Flags deemed political a memo sent out to all superintendent and school leaders in the Commonwealth from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and secondary education acting commissioner Russell Johnson dated February 7 2025 firmly States quote des’s educational Vision remains unchanged in its simplest form

38:47 it is to create a public education system where every student is seen heard and valued and where all students have the opportunity to thrive the guidance further emphasizes that quote it is ental that schools should continue to support for marginalized students including lbtq students to reinforce that they belong in their school communities research consistently demonstrates that when schools take proactive steps to Foster inclusivity through strong policies affirming practices and supportive Educators students experience improved mental health academic success and overall

39:27 well-being Brown 46 off I am speaking with you today as a member of the Marblehead Pride committee and as the owner of the power of speech a therapy practice in Marblehead built on empowering kids to be themselves advocate for their needs and navigate through life with confence I am standing up here as an ally to the lgbtq plus Community I am standing because so many of our neighbors don’t feel safe to stand and truthfully shouldn’t have to as a speech therapist I work with children every day who are learning to express their voices in the world these kids often Fe challenges whether it’s a speech delay navigating social interactions or even just finding your own identity and just like every other child lgbtq plus and other marginalized youth deserve to feel empowered in the

40:13 same way they deserve to grow up knowing that they are loved and accepted for exactly who they are not just by their families and friends but by the communities on ours when we talk about creating an inclusive space it’s not just about allowing people to coexist it’s about fostering in a sense of belonging it’s about sending the message that you matter and your identity your feelings and your voice are all valid and important this is why symbols like the pride flag are not just decorations they are affirmations they represent safety love and acceptance for those who may otherwise feel marginalized and invisible the pride flag in our schools is not a political statement however removing the pride flag is a political SE

41:06 this flag provides representation a reminder that lgbtq class people are valued members of our society and that their existence is something to be proud of not hitting the way if the school committee moves forward removing Pride flags from our schools we would be sending a message that lgbtq plus Youth and others are not valued their identities are not recognized and they do not deserve to feel safe and support in this spis they spend such a significant amount of their time we know they feel this way because they are telling us I don’t want any child to feel that way not the children I work with not the children already in our public schools and certainly not our future generations of Marblehead including my two young daughters every day I see the power of children’s voices when we Empower them

41:52 to advocate for themselves we give them the tools to stand strong in the face of adversity we teach them that they are worthy of love and respect no matter who they are we teach them that they are for this reason I urge you to listen to the Marblehead high school student voices Who provided you with a legally embedded draft flagy Marblehead we have an opportunity to make a choice a choice to stand together and say we support you we see you and you are not alone flags at school including Pride Flags black lives matter flags and many others symbolize inclusivity support in a in a community of in a commitment to diversity displaying these flags helps create a welcoming environment for all students

42:37 promoting acceptance of different identities cultures and experiences it sends a powerful message that the school’s value equality and stand together against discrimination we can make our town the kind of place where every child every teenager and every adult feels accepted for who they truly are I urge you all to think about the message we want to send Marblehead Head should be a place where Marblehead should be a place where diversity is celebrated where voices are uplifted and where every person no matter their identity was empowered to be their

43:35 six obviously you know where I se almost two years ago J said that you like the policy Out West Hadley or something so I deeded to call 17 communities around mad there’s no policy in anything it could have changed in the last year and a half but I’m so proud of these kids in this town my da who 12 is very lucky because at holidays we have drag queens we have black mus we have a trans person I have Jewish gay men I have an autistic boy that thinks I’m his aunt and he just wanted to celebrate Christmas so now I incorporate a little

44:21 bit of the Jewish faith so that he can experience both of them and we need to let the kids do what they want to do in their schools to make their others their friends feel comfortable now I remember way back when I was in high school there was flags all over the wall of every country in this world you know you look here you don’t see any but if you walked in when I first brought um my daughter to school it was kind compassion this that I think that’s kind of gone out the window do I particularly want to go fight for all these rights all over again I’m old I don’t want to do that I want my child

45:09 to blow up and accept people so I’m going to give you this quote from a very wellknown brag Queen Don K Li we’re all the same because we’re all different

45:29 more iners we have some folks with their hands up online um Bill

45:49 SMY Bill small Prospect Street mar mar 74 and here is support of the students having an equal voice signing both flags and man with slav cool their home dur day they live congregated they share their stories here this is their second home they will come back in 5 10 15 years remember their experiences to they want to feel comfortable here I would think that they should have a say in what goes on their wall when it comes to who they are what they believe in what they want to fit in and also the kinds of them to learn now only the ABCs but how to interact with their friends

46:35 more importantly with those they don’t know so well the other people in their midst those that are not of their tribe and those in the other tribes they want to fit in also what better way to have the two tribes get to know understand each other than by having those individuals who L and accept each other and in today’s culture we need to be remind those other tribes those other individuals those other occupants of our and their territory which is the f j this is why it is important to have reminders of what is important not only to one5 but to the individuals in those other tribes I think that the students have

47:20 presented a pretty good alternative I think that the minority groups especially in the school system should receive recognition and support by their per one purpose of the school system is to treat everyone equally in Academia and in unity and prepare the student to be good in human beings acceptance of others by the other there will be good training to learn how to negotiate tough questions like who has the right to free speech and have a to things other Mar said it pretty well according to current more importantly to create safe inclusive learning spaces where students can fly and feel comfortable being who they are and I understand that

48:06 Marin is a member of Harmony I also understand how he deals with such differences in their volunteer and we all say in the handbook I Marblehead schools is committed to sustaining an inclusive environment cten pronging and accept we apply equ Equitable healthfully relevant lend to students social emotional physical and academic development mpsc’s power of the thank

48:46 you one more uh Renee

48:57 welcome good evening Rene to marhe thank you for opportunity tonight to hear us out I believe a complete ban on flags and Banners would would repress the ability of students to express their sense of community promote awareness of what their clubs are about share information and values even celebrations of events such as Earth Day or to allow a tyranny of the majority by a small minority of parents whether it’s Banning books Flags or fats is a mistake by overreacting to a Supreme Court decision going beyond what is

49:43 actually required by law you would do a disservice to students educational and developmental needs and their firstent rights if a parent or even a student finds offense with a book in the library do we ban the book for the entire student body no we probably don’t politicize situation but use common sense and rely on the professional Judgment of a librarian and school administrators who be hired because they trained and to understand the educational and developmental needs of students I urge you to let administrators faculty and students develop thoughtful criteria about the flags that are allowed flags that would be consistent with the mission vision

50:29 and values of the school and if dis agreements ensue let there be real discussion listening it’s a valuable learning experience as the saying goes these are the formative years we’re teaching especially high school students how to articulate their points of view develop critical thinking skills research learn the value of the historical perspective we want them to learn to listen to each other to develop character personal qualities of self-reflection and empathy it’s reasonable to expect that a professional administrators as they always have a capable of being the final operatives on which flags build and enhance community

51:15 life within the interior walls of the school our democracy relies on education of citizens who are capable of separating truth and fact from fiction understanding how passion emotion can influence good judgment when it comes to figuring out what’s in the best interest the common good for the most people our country was built on the foundation of people willing to tolerate different ideas and respectfully agree compromise that starts here that learning from this public school building the students have a reasonable Common Sense proposal legally vetted and I’m hoping that this sub commmittee will be a model for students and please use

52:01 your common sense in the policy recommendation to the school thank

52:17 you I ask a question um U I had a request from Jordan Paris whe right who wanted to speak tonight but had a very serious uh medical emergency um and if it would be all right I could but I’d like to read her statement for her I can do it at the end if there’s time or now why don’t we because other people come in and find up so why don’t we go through a few more and then we’ll so

52:51 don’t oh wait you raise your hand did you sign up why W you sign I’m going to Pivot to online um okay so I’m G to move to uh Angus M I’m gonna oh there you go Angus thank you so much Jen can I be

53:16 heard no no that’s it’s moved over here so folks here I just try to not folks go ahead Angus I’m sorry thank you just confirming it you can hear me can hear you can you hear us okay great I can hear you yes I I’m out of town but I appreciate the opportunity to to speak at this forum tonight my name is Angus mcil I live at 39 tyers Lane I’m a parent of a student at the middle school and I’ve been working with a group of other parents students teachers and others in the community who have concerns about the outcome of this process I continue to strongly oppose the broad flag censorship policy that was put forward as the most recent iteration of a policy proposal by this subcommittee I propose I oppose it for a variety of reasons uh including the impact it would have on

54:01 students who need to feel safe in our schools and agree with the statements that I’ve heard during this forum about the importance of that I think the well-being of those students should be a primary consideration I also oppose it because of its unintended consequences in that it would ban Educational Tools that are used in our schools it is currently Black History Month that proposal would ban the hanging of a banner recognizing Black History Month it would ban the hanging of a banner or flag representing June which is a congressionally approved holiday in this country it would ban the Olympic flag it would ban flags of other nations in foreign language classrooms to teach where in the world those languages are spoken it would have a negative impact on the quality of Education in Marblehead Head which is Education in Marblehead which is something I think we should avoid but I

54:48 want to mention what I do support is I listen to every word of the student Forum that was held at the high school and what I heard was a group of students who put forward a well- researched well-reasoned and balanced proposal that addresses the Constitutional issues raised in the shirtliff decision headon but allows the school Community students administrators teachers to work together and make decisions about what symbols are appropriate to have in the school environment and that’s the policy that I think uh is the best policy for uh for Marblehead Head so what I would like to see Marblehead so what I would like to see put forward by the subcommittee for consideration by the school committee is the proposal put forward by by the students at our high school um I also just want to Echo the comments that were made earlier by Jack manganis uh at the

55:35 Middle School uh middle school students were not afforded an opportunity to be at that form they weren’t notified about it it was held at a time when they could not reasonably be expected to get there I understand that many students have signed a petition asking for a forum at the middle school I believe that student as a parent of a middle schooler I believe that students at the middle school should have the same opportunity as others to have their voice heard in this process so I’ll strongly support uh and Echo the request for an additional student form to be held at the middle school thank you very much for the opportunity to be

56:11 heard I’m gonna go to Lena Robson Robinson Lena I thank you can you hear me okay I’m going to um just read a letter that I wrote to the uh school committee if that’s okay um dear members of the marble head school committee and everyone who’s attending uh tonight thank you for your efforts your hard work and dedication to increased volunteer work particularly during recent months as tensions have run High especially in our especially High uh in our town so I’d like to share my opinion as a town resident concerning the issue of which flag or flag should be raised in and endorsed by Marblehead public schools to begin the apparent

56:57 controversy surrounding the inclusion or lack thereof of various uh identity groups Flags such as those representing black lives matter lgbtqia plus the state of Israel Ukraine and others appears to be grounded in a false Zero Sum game involving two competing ideas number one the notion that the town’s Public Schools can provide a safe environment for students by including their input as to which flags to hang or two that only allowing the American flag and its Commonwealth of Massachusetts counterpart will create an unsafe environment for certain students in reality the two options are falsely connected to an objective notion of safety one could fill a stadium with flags that represent identity groups and

57:43 still not satisfy various individuals subjective needs for validation or safety assurances a specific flag can offer Comfort or a sense of solidarity for one individual while causing distress and worry to another for ex example for Jews whose relatives were Gass or buried alive in Germany seeing the flag of Israel displayed in school might represent some sense of security particularly in the wake of temples being vandalized in our backyards on the other hand for a different student the same flag could remind them of pal remind them of Palestinian children who have suffered or died in the current or past Middle East conflicts is the role of the public schools to validate every student’s subjective feelings and protect each one from anything other

58:28 than positive reinforcement every step of the way I would imagine that even if it were you can all recognize that this would be a Fool’s erand as nobody can be validated and protected from negative feelings at all times while it is nice to see students engaged in their Community the sentiments publicly expressed at various protests and meetings suggest that they are being led down a false dichotomy path one that arguably will make them ill prepared for a world in which their every desire or whim will be attended to additionally it Fosters tribal and identity-driven Alignment rather than introducing students to the notion that everyone is an individual who is more than his or her religious political or other identities to be clear being proud

59:13 of one’s sexual orientation religion political posture or Myriad other compon components that make people who they are can being a freeing can be a freeing wonderful thing it can help create extracurricular groups promote community engagement in youth grow awareness and have countless other positive outcomes but what appears to have been lost in the discourse on the flag matter is one excruciatingly simple fact as things stand right now with few limitations it appears that public school students are permitted to wear clothing with virtually any Insignia they wish they can wear purple hair or shirts made out of Palestinian Flags they can Dawn Pride hats they can sport Star of David necklaces and tongue rings they can display bracelets counting their furry

59:59 status this skies the limit for exerc exercising First Amendment rights in our public schools with a rare massachusett case of a challenge to in the court system with the above in mind and apart from our country and state flags I respectfully suggest that it is outside of the public schools domain to weigh in with an endorsement of one flag or 2,000 Flags the school system owes a great deal to our students including carrying out objective measures of safety making the question of FL endorsement in the public schools an issue that Garners votes from students will neither Advance this Mission nor create an environment this satisfies our Rich community of diverse identity groups and political beliefs I ask that you exercise your duties as elected officials in The Marblehead Head school committee and limit Marblehead school committee and limit

1:00:45 the school endorsed and displayed Flags to those of the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts sincerely and with gratitude for your dedication to our town Lena Robinson C youav

1:01:05 do um one more online then we’ll go back to in person here um jeie Lampton Jeanie are you there I am here and I just want to make sure you can see me hi everybody thanks John um and thank you for hosting this event that I’m glad we can be here virtually um on a couple of different things that I wanted to say and I I don’t have prepared remarks but but I guess um I’m I’m going to lead off with just saying that I’m I’m so heartened by the many comments around care and inclusivity and wanting to be sure that people see the symbols that are that they should see to know that they’re welcome so that’s where I personally stand but my my comment about where I hope this policy goes really sort of

1:01:52 steps back and Len’s comments led me to immediately think of that that notion of the perfectionist fallacy because it’s also what I have been thinking through as I read this and that you know that sense that if we can’t do everything then we should do nothing and I do worry that the idea that because there could be some complexity and there could be some Nuance in what happens if we have more than just the American flag more than just the Massachusetts flag more than just this maybe P flag that that it would be too much to handle and and I pause and I think and I’m so fortunate that my children came through this town and have grown up to be um really

1:02:37 thriving happy young adults our job from the first time we hold them in all the places we know them is to set our children up to be out in the world with all the complexity and all the confusion and so what I would ask you as you think about this is Imagine these fabulous folks entering when whether it’s a community college or a university or a job where they have left this little seaside village and they go places and they say I’ve never seen that flag I don’t know what that group is I don’t know what that symbol stands for because where I came from they thought it best to save me from seeing anything other than the flag of the United States than

1:03:24 the flag of the Commonwealth and I and I want to encourage us to remember what we owe these kids developmentally is to set them on the path to be independent adults at this stage in their life they should be developing peer relations they should be affirming their own beliefs and values and that might mean looking at a flag that they don’t know and saying what is what is this and what does it mean to me it might mean listening to someone seeing the flag of Israel as Lena pointed out very complex realizing that somebody is heartened by that flag and somebody is hurt by it teaching our kids or more importantly in this building that is their place of

1:04:10 learning and Community letting them learn through letting them see letting them think letting them react and be in their Community to figure it all out is the greatest gift we can give them I I so hopefully I wish and I hope that when you make this policy you will make it in the guise of what it really needs to do is set our children up to become thinking young adults who have not been shielded who have not been protected who have not had well-intended blindfolds wrapped around their eyes so thank you and and my 19 Deo Street

1:05:03 sorry all right so it’s a little after eight so I know we we maybe halfway through so let’s see um okay so I have James meerus did I pronounce that correctly you good welcome

1:05:26 thank uh my name is James zarus uh three do ledge um to me it’s just sort of an incredible indictment of the school committee that we’re even here tonight SE um I’ve been really heartened by the students over the last year who have been speaking out about this um and and to be honest I’m not even sure why they should have to compromise with the school committee on in 20125 there’s no reason um to ban the pride SL of the black Liv matter of fact in the school or on the flag hole outside the school um I don’t think the people advocating for tolerance and acceptance um in a supportive environment should have to compromise with the people who are trying to restrict those things um the reason I

1:06:12 wanted to to come and speak is I went to Boston College uh as an undergrad student and then twice as a graduate student um and Boston College has a pretty abysmal uh record in terms of uh its policies toward Korean trans students um creating a supportive environment for them um and likewise a pretty poor record in supporting students of color black students um dealing with hate crimes um confronting institutional racism um and when I was there as a grad student I saw that over you know a decade and a half um that students were still struggling with some of the same issues they had been trying to change 10 15 20 years earlier um and

1:06:59 I saw the very serious and very real negative effects um that students uh that that a school can have the students by not providing an affirming and supportive environment for them while they’re they getting their education um study after study after study shows that students perform better academically socially um uh better mental health outcomes when they are at uh in an environment that is like supportive and compassionate um a couple years ago I started an organization um atbc with the group of undergraduate students to try to uh pressure the school to change its policies because like I said again I saw the very harmful um effects that it had

1:07:44 on queer and trans students while they were at BC students that had to you know um deal with mental health struggles um students that uh took leave of absences students that dropped out um and sometimes even more serious consequences than that and ostensibly we’re here tonight to talk about Flags um but it really isn’t even about flat I think what we’re really here really debating is what kind of community is this um what kind of message are the adults in this community sending to the students what kind of um environment in the school system are you fostering like for those kids over there so it’s really not even about Flags because could be about something else um what kind of student

1:08:31 groups are approved or what kind of speakers they’re allowed to have or you know you could be debating the same issue on just another flash one and and so really um it’s sort of dismaying to me to see sort of some of the intolerance that motivated the policies um at Boston College like seeping into the school system in my town um and I if the school committee goes ahead with this policy um I would be fairly ashamed to be from Marblehead that in 2025 um the message that we’re sending to students is that the black lives matter flag and the pride flag don’t belong in school thank

1:09:22 you Edmund you Edmund Robinson welcome

1:09:30 thank you Ed Robinson from outside Marblehead head Liv in Robinson from outside Marblehead Liv in Lexington I came here last six months minister of the viu congregation in Marblehead and uh but before that I was also a trial lawyer civil liberties lawyer so I’ve had got a perspective from several different points here on this and in a church we have struggled with fairness and acceptance of for lbtq people with people color um and in in any kind of uh marginalized category and we have some wisdom from

1:10:17 that but of course constitutionally Public Schools very difficult from the church um and churches are protected in their religious Freedom they enjoy um so that’s all the real message that I wanted to convey was if you rely on the Shi versus Bost of Supreme Court decision the very first holding of that was this is not a government speech this was not the government spoke um and the rest sort of falls apart under that analysis so I don’t think I think it’s a

1:11:03 mistake try to use that as a guideline is clearly somebody comes into this housle and see the black lives matter they’re not going to say oh um that that’s a that’s a religious pro pro Prospect the way can might do that you went to see a flag with cross on the Boston City Hall which is what that that case was about but anyway this other things to do and I I’m uh very impressed with the spirit of this whole town and this school fold this uh out in the open and I do hope that she come to resolution thank

1:12:03 hello my name is Rob Henry 11 S Brook Road Marblehead Head I am the board Road Marblehead I am the board president of mass equality the Statewide lgbc acacy organization and have lived in this town 20 years I just want to say something that our student body in our town has has a very diverse community of you know lesbian trans and people from different races and ethnic groups all are part of the student body and our their families and their extended Community it is not political to acknowledge their existence they are here that is reality they are part of our community and it is important to create an educational space that provides that mental safety for

1:12:50 them to learn for them to grow for our whole Community it is important that that is thing each flag represent that they provide that space provide that acknowledgement that people are here and that they are seeing that all of our spers and we want to make sure that we do that as a community and as an educational system here in Marblehead Mass quality and myself support the proposal that the students have put forward we think they well thought out and it also gives us an opportunity to have educational debates about what should be put up in our schools and gives the students a voice in that that is a great educational opportunity for our community and our students to really talk about what

1:13:37 matters in this community so I encourage you to to have a policy that is inclusive that recognizes the diversity of our community and the diversity of everyone here thank you thank you

1:13:58 one here and then we’ll go to online so um uh Samantha

1:14:12 Rosado actually have some questions would you guys entertain questions I know it’s form so we can we just yeah yeah we just have one to I’m worried now to have a lot of other people that want to speak but I have made notes of things that I think we should respond back to so if you want to ask them and I can make those notes um the only Flags I’ve ever seen flying at the public schools around maret or the American flag and sometimes the P maybe state has it been a common practice for Marlet schools to fly other flags outside on FL like avol sometimes has it different I am not aware of whether there has been or not think there’s nothing official that Happ there’s no official policy at all no I mean there are flags that fly in inside

1:14:57 or they’re displayed inside the building um uh but there is no policy right now there is a Massachusetts Common Wealth of Massachusetts General law that requires the US flag I believe to be in every classroom okay um have you considered creating a flag pole policy and then having a separate policy for the rest of the building sort of like Marlet Housing Authority has a flag policy and then another section separate for what they display and then there was one the Marblehead at Housing Authority policy if if I remember it exactly talks about difference between the person’s individual apartment which is their own Abode their own home versus what is the

1:15:45 common area which is the jurisdiction of the FES of authority okay so I I mean we could certainly could be a question for our attorneys whether there’s any I don’t think there’s anything that’s considered personal that it’s owned by or for a tency um situation with students it is something that has come up in our meeting um in regards to potentially separating those which I I’m assuming is where the inside versus outside okay I saw one of the previous draft policies required the school committee to approve the flags and they the building for 30 days I know you said you don’t currently have a policy but I just wanted to say I think this would be combersome and I hope it’s not still a consideration because would a public Soul committee meeting and go through every single one it just seems

1:16:31 like it might make it converson for everyone and they would have to wait especially if the meeting gets cancelled or the summer um and it appears only one other Public School District in Massachusetts has the policy have you looked at any other schools to find a compromise how do other schools do there are a number of schools I don’t have the exact count um I think I found seven or eight in Commonwealth that have very different like Framingham has a very long policy Sharon has a much shorter policy um again I think mayor M gu talked about Hadley I think there’s around seven or eight at this point of school districts however there are and I haven’t done this research uh but there are a number of municipalities cities and towns that

1:17:17 have adopted policies that Encompass the school buildings so those school districts would come under um their Town policy so now sorry I don’t G to make a St I’m just trying to rush any no thank you um so when each of my three children were in second grade I volunteered to six week a six we culture class on Italy and here is the flag that every single student in my group need and they got to take it home one of the years of one of the other countries that the students learned about was Israel we all brought in flags and symbolic representations if that’s what you want to call it now the project has evolved into teacher guided and students bring in a poster from home almost every single poster comes back with a flag drawn on it the posters hang

1:18:03 on the walls of the classrooms and the hallways you have to consider the implications of telling teachers what they can and cannot teach about what they can and cannot show maybe display in their classrooms and it what the students may or may not learn about that does seem close to approving curriculum content um these K through 12 students are learning about the world around them and it’s a beautiful diverse world they start out in kindergarten through third grade sitting on rugs that have country flags on them one student might sit on China another one might sit on Mexico Germany Ukraine Poland students identify culturally with somewhere other than the United States and schools should be Halls of learning and growth what can be very challenging is the adults put their

1:18:48 personal politics onto the flag Sometimes some kids grow up quicker we understand there’s conflict out there we might have some students who come over from countries and go to school here because of War more other unsafe situations in their own home country but a ninth grader isn’t generally going to view a flag with the same view as an adult removing all of them I don’t believe is a solution we have no idea what flags might make some students and Staff feel safe and what makes some feel threatened they all need to have a voice to learn compromise creativity and thinking outside the body I believe that the committee should go with the flag policy that the students so diligently created keep the halls of all schools a place that students want to enter every

1:19:33 day and feel celebrated accepted and save thank

1:19:45 you I’m gonna pivot now to online I’ve got Holly James Holly can you oh you know what you’re gonna should be able to unmute Holly I did hello hi welcome hi um Holly James three Countryside Lane um well there’s been a lot said tonight about all of this um I guess I don’t have anything written in per se um you want me to stop my video that’s your choice if you’re comfortable you don’t have to love to see you but you okay we can see you welcome get out can’t get it now I can’t

1:20:30 get it to go away um well anyways um I guess all I’ll say is I’ve been fighting for glbtq rights for over 56 years I counted that out tonight and had I ever seen a flag like that I won’t say any more about that if I had ever seen that a flag like that or any kind of symbol that was said safety I would have been blown away amazed um I had no safety growing up no safety in in college um no safety actually until I came to the Unitarian Church in Marblehead where I finally felt safe and there we had a program for called the welcoming congregation which is based on G lgbtq history and most of the congregation took that class but I I

1:21:17 need to say that you know the the kids people said some of the people were saying that the kids um need to be uh accept learn to accept themselves and who they are and stand up for themselves and you know that’s not really easy when you’re marginalized when you’re when you’re bullied when you’re when you’re put down for being different when you’re looked at as unacceptable um so a symbol of the pride flag that gives them safety I mean h how much I don’t see how that could harm anybody anybody any other student personally a pride flag and I also want to mention the black lives matter flag we have we have African-American students coming on in the Metro program how do you think they’re going to feel if they see the black lives matter flag

1:22:04 taken down I mean that’s not exactly welcoming so the other thing that I wanted to touch upon was um the Trevor Project and it’s an L lgbtq youth Suicide Prevention they have they had a survey of 35,000 lb lgbtq youth and 40% of the survey considered the the um consider the 35 42% of the 35,000 kids considered suicide within that year um and more than half of transgender and non-bi binary youth uh surveyed also considered suicide so affirming spaces where where

1:22:52 trans kids and non-binary etc etc can have a sense of safety I feel is really important I can’t just sit by after all I’ve been through and think that that my town of Marblehead would do something as I see as puny as punitive as taking down the pride flag or the black lives matter Banner um which you know is is all inclusive for we we say we’re all inclusive but if you take those down I mean that is a political statement if it comes down [Music] um I don’t know I just it’s just like I’m here to advocate for the students and all the work that they’ve done with glad and I think it’s amazing and um I hope things work out for the students thank

1:23:45 you I’m gonna move to uh Ian kingsberry Ian you should be able to

1:23:53 unmute yeah hi there thanks for allowing me to speak I’m I’m on a work trip right now speaking uh from there I didn’t prepare anything let me just uh give a few words extemporaneously uh I graduated from our blood High School 15 years ago uh in a town where I thought I received a remarkably good education um and where things were rather depolarized and teachers focused on core content and not their politics uh and I’m concerned frankly in in seeing a transformation towards something political and that’s what these flags are and I understand that there are a lot of people in this town who um who are aligned with what they believe those flags to represent

1:24:38 but symbols by their nature are contested and so when we think about something like the BLM flag for some people that means racial progress but there are other people who look at that and see uh the Marxism that the organization promotes um the destruction of the nuclear family the antagonism and hatred of Israel uh and we don’t see ourselves in that uh and that’s not the values of the education that we want instilled in our kids and so if we say that we care about diversity uh really if we’re going to have these flags up then it would seem that the natural response is that we need ideological diversity so if we’re going to have the BLM in in progress pride flag um perhaps uh we should have the make America great again flag or the

1:25:25 gadston flag FL otherwise known as the don’t tread on me flag or alternatively and more sensibly I would propose that we have none of these and just focus on um on first principles and the American flag and and those causes which we can all uniformly rally around so I think having these flags is an enormous mistake um and I would really appreciate uh depolarization moving away from that thank you thank you an sure

1:26:01 um uh one more on line I’ve got um Connor kavi Maza kski Maza I’m sure I didn’t pronounce that correctly Conor no worries hello my name is sorry hello my name is Connor kovski Maza I’m a science teacher at Marblehead High School where some of your students may know me as mix K as a teacher especially in modern times I too off here that schools should focus purely on curriculum rather than worrying about the social emotional needs of our students anyone who actually teaches our youth knows how vital these needs are to ensure that students not only learn the curriculum but also develop into who they are as people when social and emotional health suffer it is a horrible domino effect

1:26:47 that affects both academic performance and human development which can be debilitating in such an important and sensitive time in life one thing I will always fight for is the understanding that the identities of our students staff and community members are absolutely not political and are not simply beliefs black students exist homosexual students exist Latino students transgender students Asian students Jewish students Arab students they all exist these are not political beliefs these are real human beings who need to know that they are welcome and that a school is a safe space for them they are not going away those who want to erase these symbols from our schools aren’t achieving neutrality they’re only going to scrub these human beings from

1:27:32 our schools educational environment in favor of those with privilege and when we start with flags how long until books curriculum and student clubs follow suit I’ll leave this with one point uh we not only need to be cognizant of what these Flags uh being in our schools mean for students but also what their removal will communicate to those students when you tear down a black lives matter flag what are you saying then and as a teacher I’ll continue to have the onus to ensure these students that they are welcome because that is part of my role as an educator while a proposed policy by their own school committee tells them they aren’t I’m extremely proud of the counter proposal that our students created I would say I’m stunned but I

1:28:18 know how smart and passionate our students here in Marblehead really are and I urge you to consider adopting that policy to to ensure that our

1:28:33 school oh I think you cut out for the last few seconds there sorry yourself for sure uh I’ll say I’ll just end with uh I’m extremely proud of our counter propos of the counter proposal that students created uh I would say I’m stunned but I know how smart and passionate our students truly are and I urge you to consider adopting that policy to ensure our students remain welcoming to all students thank

1:29:14 dodgei hi um hi R welcome yeah welcome um so I just want to say that I thought of what to say tonight and what I wanted to say tonight was something a little personal 50 years AG go this year I entered UMass as a um as a gay uh student came out to myself and the very first person that I made made friends with at UMass was a guy from Marblehead class of 1975 Marblehead Ed high he came out to me um in my freshman year and we kind of bonded over that and he was telling me all of the hardships he had had in high school obviously progression has happened a lot

1:30:01 of better things have happened um I would like to think that he and all the other students that had issues coming out of the closet 50 years ago would be addressed by having a little segment of pride in a banner flag Etc and I would definitely support the uh your adoption of what the students kind of uh policy they got glad lawyers that’s gay lesbian advocators Independant in Boston that basically got the Supreme Court of the United States to adopt gay marriage in 2015 they are some of the most

1:30:47 legitimate lawyers in the country that work on civil rights for gay lesbian transgenders in the country so I would say that the students have done a really great job in addressing this and I support that policy of wanting to um Implement some sort of a flag policy that is adaptive to the school

1:31:18 system he Henry I’m sorry I can’t read guaza Gua guaza okay all right I did get it thank you welcome hi Road um I’ll be brief because I think someone’s been said already but um I think I just want to Echo howad I am of the students of this to for what they’ put together I think it’s a tust to how people get involved in Civics because of that I don’t think that we should be avoiding talking about these issues I think the students have come up with the proposals that will allow us to continue to talk about them and continue to together and so I just encage policy thank you thank

1:32:13 you sure I’m not pronouncing that correctly either my bad friend and hello welcome I’m a 40e retired educator who Ed up as the Director of student services for another Northshore Community I also worked for five years on an impatient adolescent psychological agreement and I’m here to say that students have presented a fabulous proposal to me they need to be recognized and heard because it is our mission as Educators and parents to support and

1:33:00 challenge this the students and children of this community to be understanding individuals who can work together which our country is wly short of right now and they need to learn how to speak for themselves and for each other and so I would say short in a short way they deserve to be heard and they deserve your respect and your recognition that they are confident young people who will grow du to responsible caring adults thank you

1:34:04 sorry thank you um I just had a quick question and then I’m going to actually uh read a statement from Jordan who was unable to make it tonight since my name was already on the list okay so you’ll read it not correct to ensure that it’s read my question is uh it relate to the woman’s name talking about the class projects uh with the Italy flags and the other flags um and at curriculum night last night I was walking through the hallways and saw all sorts of different Ark displayed on the walls and student Arc displayed on the walls and I’m wondering and perhaps this is just a rhetorical question but what the effects would be if a student were to paint a

1:34:50 cry flag in art class and have that displayed on the walls that be is that just simply art and then more importantly my concern would be whether or not a parent would be able to walk into the school and take down that student’s heartart because they felt

1:35:11 frighten in answer to your question one of the things that we had spoken with the principal of the high school about was Whatever May transpire with the flag would be a flag and banner policy separate from this the Su the principal is wanting to work with our department and find ways to display students feelings okay in in an art form whether it’s a mural or some something about the so that that is in the works anyway so and for the second part would the school committee have anything to say if a parent came in and took down that art um I or would it be as dismissive as it was when Mak took down fun any thing that would take place in

1:35:57 terms of someone removing something that would not be allowed to do that would be handled by the administration as it was last year for the black Liv matter flag and Isel both those fls were taken down in our yeah that wouldn’t be our perview that would be the perview of the administration to handle any so they okay issues like that go thank you I appreciate it I’m going to now read a statement from uh Jordan Caris will right who uh Renee mentioned is UN to be here uh my name is Jordan Caris will and I’m a parent of a child a lover school I want to start by saying that even with just over 48 hours notice you see in this room that the people of Marblehead head this room that the people of Marblehead are ready to speak out against a policy that would silence students and take away symbols of inclusion that make marginalized and vulnerable students feel safe this is deeply personal

1:36:45 personal to me I am part of an lgbtq plus family I spend my days at work as part of a team at glbtq legal Advocates and Defenders that is challenging laws and policies targeting our community right now the lgbtq plus Community is under attack from our own federal government and the work is endless and exhausting the fact that I have to stand here today in Marblehead Massachusetts and try to convince you of the benefits of my son seeing flags and symbols that make him feel welcome and included as part of an lgbtq plus family is outrageous I know that others are outraged as well the draft policy proposed by the subcommittee is open to Broad unconstitutional interpretation there are already two open lawsuits against this district and yet this school committee put forward a draft

1:37:30 policy that would leave the district open to lawsuits based on potential violation of First Amendment rights I work with the legendary civil rights attorneys who won marriage equality at the United States Supreme Court our attorneys have taken on districts throughout New England and in Massachusetts challenging policies that illegally censor lgbtq lgbtq plus students and teachers and they have repeatedly won because the Constitution is on our side these attorneys are watching what you do here as are all of us I’m outraged because our schools are in crisis and you’re spending your time trying to censor the symbols that make kids feel safe instead of implementing safety policies and making The Hires necessary to have schools that are safe and that work for everyone we don’t even

1:38:19 have we don’t even have a director of student services and I can tell you that the effects of that are felt throughout the dist and felt very acutely by parents of kids with disabilities our kids deserve to feel safe and included let’s settle this issue by properly considering the student proposal which addresses many of the stated concerns of the school committee the policy proposed by student leaders at the student Forum on this issue has been vetted by glad law attorneys and is aligned with the Supreme Court’s shirt of decision and that it narrowly restricts the flags on the outdoor flag po however it leaves the final call about what is posted inside the school schools to administrators creating an Avenue for students and teachers to make proposals about what to display administrators can decide if a proposed flag symbol is inappropriate and can come up with their

1:39:06 own system for determining this the school committee’s Lane is narrow it should not be involved in deciding which flags and symbols are displayed in school it is not your expertise School administrators have the proper training and DC guidelines and educational background to make informed decisions regarding the welfare and safety of their students please consider this Fair policy values and respects uh student teacher and administrative voices appreciate your time thank

1:39:44 you thanks um just as a point of clarification we absolutely do have a director of student services Lisa Maria bito we have an assistant director of student services as well so just want to make sure that’s everyone is aware of that um I’ve got Nyla

1:40:25 welcome green and what school do you go to Village all right cool so we were talking for today so I thought I would um you know just ask for the same question that um I asked her in front of you um but you know part of it is um I don’t know what the um what the student proposed policy is and I don’t know where they find asked my question you guys um looked like in the paper that proposal was for a committee to be formed students and teachers um and that those students and teachers would decide which flags would be appropriate or not to put

1:41:12 up in the Lun SCH right correct let me just read because I have it in front of me so I’ll just read it into the record um the policy that was submitted to us in draft form from a student group or a group of students um is he oh um well I I’ll just read it into record so we have it the marble school committee it as the governing and policymaking body of the Marblehead public schools has determined that no Marblehead School District property is intended to serve as a for for free expression by the general public as such only flags that have official legal status the United States flag the Massachusetts state flag P Mia flag and the town of marelit flag shall be flown or displayed on a flag PO on school property the school district shall also comply with the relevant

1:41:58 provisions of GL section laws section of the law uh in addition no individual group or group other than the school administrators teachers school affiliated groups approved student groups or School approved users of school facilities shall be permitted to place any posting EG sign Banner message slogan flag promotional material or any other similar items anywhere on or in school property or facilities including Transportation Vehicles also school affiliated groups approved student groups and school approved users of school facilities are required to receive the permission of school administrators prior to any such posting this policy is meant to apply such as to protect and not to be in contravention of the First Amendment free rights First Amendment Free Speech rights of our

1:42:45 schools teachers and students was with their their proposed their proposed policy so which I have shared with our school attorney right um

1:42:58 so this what it s is and school approved users of school facilities are required to receive the permission of school administrators prior to any such postate and so but it’s the students and the this is a lot of confusion of what’s been said here tonight okay and particularly around what the policy needan for classrooms um and and who would be deciding I’ve heard that the students want to decide which flags fill up so that this poliy say be administrators or the students well it reads to me that it would be um the administrators that would make the determination okay that’s

1:43:43 how I read it okay yeah so not the students on voice um well the students would be presenting their request I I guess is I mean again I don’t know how this would be operationalized that would be something we would need to work out or would the school administration would need to work out but that is how I read this okay because that the reason important is this is what I’ve been hearing a lot of is um that the students want to have a voice that it sounds like what they’re asking for is to the administrators to police that voice right I mean if a student goes to the administrator and asks for a flag to be put out then there is an administrator that is choosing whether or not that flag is appropriate is that correct that’s how I read it information or any

1:44:44 propos yeah and I think it okay yeah yeah R yeah I got it um I think okay let um M de is speaking so I’m G to go back to her it it does appear that that baseless is the case but the intent which I think is clear in the other is that it would be you know it’s St it’s you know it’s school affiliated groups student groups students you know would be the ones making the request to the administrators so yes that means they would have a voice I mean that was pretty clear right but they somebody’s exing which flag goes on yeah and this would be I mean in theory like any policy that we have it would be operationalized by the administration so

1:45:29 I shouldn’t assum I should not assume it the administration and the students in some version of student leaders student council so there would be some way that the students would work with the administration to determine how that how that process work okay and so school not be involved in that okay so in contrast this school commity policy that you previously thinking about is to have no Flags other than the um you the model flag United States flag we had one draft that we had had from that said that we had another draft that also gave the opportunity for the school administrators to have the

1:46:14 um opportunities to approve yeah would be would be the decision maker of the of which flags are be which state flag temporary FL yeah right okay so and the reason why I was explaining this right I I thought would you know a pretty like okay um the biggest issue that I have with this with any flat policy that chooses which PL go up is well all it you you say what do you think about the idea of some sort of Committee of teachers or students or anybody deciding which flags represents

1:47:02 the students I think it’s unfair because then they can just put up whatever Flats they want to and and it’s kind of like saying that um that they’re going to put up the that they’re going to take or not take down but it’s going to be like somebody else’s way then they just put up the ones that they want and nothing else

1:47:28 so the point is that if there’s anybody who’s deciding which flags get to go up and which flags don’t then that is necessarily A biased decision would you agree with that I’m that’s hard to answer I think we’re just trying to hear I don’t mean bias like a b good way and I think this is get we’re getting okay well yeah we’re getting into bu so we need to just kind of well the question is because honestly I’ve heard a lot of people here have tonight have um you know tell me that basically I would be I’m un welcome in this community because I don’t believe believe in Black lives matter and the

1:48:13 black lives not movement but I am unwelcome in this community because I do not believe in that a man can become a woman you may find my opinions totally repugnant and that’s completely fine that’s

1:48:39 fine this is a community Forum people speaking nla you need to wrap this up because we’re going on have the right to have those opinions and other students have the right not to have to have those you know the black lives matter or the pride flag up on on the walls representing the district’s point of view which actually represents everybody in the district so there are definitely families here I guarantee you and they can’t even speak okay because they’re being cored of students who are actually harmed by these by seeing these flags every day yeah and I know that there’s a mop of people who think that I’m a crazy

1:49:24 bigot but that’s not true what I’m standing up for is every individual’s right to have their own opinion I have very well thought out I actually mail this to you I have a very well thought out letter here I have a reading list I have a list of all of the students civil rights okay and nobody’s trying to take civil rights away students are allowed to speak write articles express ideas and beliefs they can publish newspapers yearbooks students can form groups they can hand out flyers with pride flags and BLM stickers or whatever the hell they want to DOA pardon my friends they can wear expressive clothing badges buttons all kinds of things they cannot tell my children or me or anybody else’s child

1:50:11 what to believe and what symbols mean something so far I have seen no metric on some on that’s anything that’s specifically significant in any way proving showing there’s why spread discrimination in our schools I don’t there’s no data on that okay there’s no I don’t there’s no survey saying how many kids feel unsafe has everybody been pulled on that can so all of these things are important and I came here to ask those questions of me where are the metrics where is the data where is the research if there is none why do we need those flags up there any Flags really I think that no Flags should be of of an ideological nature except for and this

1:50:58 is a clarification that I wanted I was hoping you could make you know obviously in a French class you can put up a French flag or you can put up you know if a student makes an artwork that has a flag on it maying that down what parent will go in and rip that off of wall

1:51:21 marel no she didn’t she did not she she did not

1:51:45 [Music] [Music] towned reasonable argument n it has been pleased excuse me sir

1:52:02 youla Margaret got two people I think two CL Margaret Clark and shoban K Karen I’m sorry I can’t I can’t Karen welcome

1:52:21 ken9 my ken9 my son one of my sons um he asked to speak well okay welcome so um I’m starting the personal way um I lived in fear and denial for 36 years of my life until I found the U church hearing Mar EV suppored who you were not who you should be Bas on some more that support gave me the courage to come out to myself and others what a waste of the previous two decades that I could have been truly living who I was a friend of mine mine’s mother who lived your marble de didn’t come out until she was 60 through the depresses in this Society imagine the Decades of joy and love she could have experienced that was

1:53:07 suppressed instead of s the rainbow flag and the black lives matter flag are simply expressions of love and acceptance of those who are marginalized and oppressed around us that are our family that are ourselves that are our friends and our neighbors they’re your sons and daughters your nieces and nephews your brothers and sisters and folks you don’t even know because they haven’t come out to you they may not even come out to themselves Nick because they are such Crushers to be the same as quote unquote everyone else my kids your kids her kids his kids all deserve space at school that’s going to support them figuring out who they

1:53:52 are for some our schools are their own safe space knowing the trusted adult or group of kids supports them and who they are can give Lifesaver for these seeing these flags that are symbols of love and acceptance taken down to take away years even Decades of joy and

1:54:12 accept why would you suppress people’s actions to support love and respect by removing their Flags realize that if you take these flages and supportive flages down you own the damage that will do for those kids are kids my kids tell me and then there’s there’s the practical sense my kids tell me there is a dynamic Ducks Banner at Village School that stands for dynamic unique courageous kind and safe that’s a structure they have set up they developed to keep everyone safe and respectful respect for within the school Community will you force that Banner to be removed would this being include the removal of banners of senior participant of sports teams that that ring the

1:54:58 athletic field Championship banners in the gym would this include the banners of the high school Lobby that say things like communicate clearly and with purpose honor people place in time our community is no place for hate you want to remove those banners that are inspiring to these students to be accepting of each other that the the community the Administration has has put up and trying to encourage the kids to show that respect and acceptance of each other your policy would remove all of that as well as the the flags in the classroom the only necessary flag policy would be that it shouldn’t spread hate don’t take the supports away from our kids by instituting such a

1:55:44 restrictive flag poliy please don’t turn back time and turn your back on our

1:55:53 kids I would like to speak of students from Village and other Marblehead schools um we have a black Liv matter Banner in the front office of vage school has been there for multiple

1:56:13 years years Community

1:56:24 except people except people like except for who they are and understand and the lgbtq flags as

1:56:40 well like Flags they show that people respect that people don’t have to love and respect the people of and always have to love and marry with opposite sex have themselves people the same people have the right to

1:57:06 be people don’t have disrespect students they should the same rights

1:57:30 no I feel like this any consider in case that supported by this day want get to see that people support every day because of these FL if you take away the flags they will understand you they like accept it

1:58:04 so basically what I’m trying to say is that I don’t not agree with this

1:58:29 names here um Kevin um Bon yep I put your name on the list sorry when you so you didn’t have

1:58:40 to uh I’ve never done one of these so if I’m nervous I apologize um my name is I at Orange Street um I went to Seaside Nursery School uh I went to Bell school went to Marblehead at middle school went to marel at High School um I’ve been married for 10 years to my husband um I moved back to Marblehead head husband um I moved back to Marblehead in 2018 um I love this community I love what it’s about I love my neighbors I love my family that’s here my friends that have all moved back um I’m looking at the month year ahead I am going through Family Planning I’m going through starting my own family I’m excited to be back in this community and um I’m deeply proud of the students that have done what they’ve done I think the

1:59:25 ability to have a cohesive discussion and come to an equitable solution I think is one of the the strengths of this community and I would dare say like this country has um I would equally say um as someone who knew when he was 10 years old that he was a little different and walk through this the halls of the old middle school and old high school um I was very fortunate that I was not on the receiving end of bullying but just because you don’t have a statistic or just because you don’t have a survey that says oh people feel this way or that way doesn’t mean that they don’t um I had a lot of people I know in my life who experienced the flip side of that and what I would hate is to have students be denied the ability to walk

2:00:10 through a building and see a symbol of themsel whether it be a black lives matter flag a Jun flag Jun flag an LGBT flag an Israeli flag a flag it’s I think the joy of this community is just how welcome we all are there’s a reason why I enjoy being back there there’s a reason why I want to start my family here it’s a reason why I want to be having a child that will be a fifth generation Marblehead header bying large and I just hope that this community I hope that this school Community I hope that we can all this understand just some deeply personal itage for many of us but at the same time have respect for differing opinions um I’m grateful for this opportunity this literally is just coming out of my brain so I apologize if I’m stuttering all but um I just hope that kids have the opportunity to have the protection

2:00:57 rights the ability to negotiate and speak as any other

2:01:18 Amic I sat in your seats and I know what it’s like to be incred who has a point of view and I just wanted to say that one thing I think all of us in this room can agree on this has been incredibly um it’s getting in the way of moving forward 52% of our fourth graders can’t read um we need to be focused on what’s going on in the fast firm now I think that there are probably a lot of us who might disagree about what flags me and how someone feels about plan and what it means to them you really can’t tell someone else what they should think about that um you can have your own opinion and we live in a free country that respects minority rights um so one would having been committee when you sit in a room like this could read the rumor

2:02:05 but doesn’t take long to get a sense most of the people here today are the two existing flags of the law and opposing taking down than some of you probably also know that the flag of the Jewish H was taken down and then was parot women were brutally raped children had their fingers cut off parot but in ovens one of the worst terrorist events of human history that certainly reach and one of the flags has political leadership that supported those T so one would imagine like Mar that there are a lot of people who are Jewish would be offended by and they they are entitled to have those P

2:02:51 when someone walks into a meeting like this they some someone raing a flag with political leadership supporting killing of their reles one imagine why they be upset about that for the same reason people are upset about other flights now there’s a proposal for the scho where there have been different proposed draft poliy one says American flag Massachusetts marhe P there’s another flag that was proposed that says let the students of the voice would go through administrators and there be some type of process I gu like question particularly for the people in the room because I think that need the school compan needs to get feedback is way you support a policy that says any flag but a student it doesn’t Happ have to decide what’s going to go out maybe someone wants have a flag that

2:03:37 might you know offend your sensibilities now a few years back there was a flag where there was there was a slogan that was take back America when I put that up to you I’d say okay which side well that was Bernie Sanders during one of his campaigns it was also SL the bricks andms the conservative so words have meanings and when there’s styed SP on a flag and the political leadership of an organization supports a point of view that might offend someone else’s F abilities people are entitled to be offended when they see that flag taking on the wall for the same reason that most of you are here many of you are here because you don’t want to see flag taking up the wall in the case of the flag of the Jewish homeand that was taken down and the one really buzzes a

2:04:22 lot of opposition account is extremely different now I guess I’m curious for this group would you support a policy that says any flap Maga flag go up that be okay all but and I understand I appreciate your point of you’re one person in the back but I’m curious for the people who are here that don’t want other flags come in you think that any flag should go up or should the administrators be the ones to decide

2:04:55 is it you because the students have put together a policy that students so so I would say your view is that’s a compromise in practicality having been in a poli policy gets prevented we have to think about how it’s going to play out now we can all agree this advice question is when you have a policy that talks about having an administrator make a decision one would flag would disagree those wouldn’t be allowed so it becomes a question of what goes up and what doesn’t go up it really the proposed policy that that Jan read the record it’s not a policy that says anything goes so what I would say is I think the school Community has a choice they can say American flag Mexicans flag

2:05:43 Marblehead P or it can say any flag but anything in between is really problematic going to create a lot of

2:05:53 real I think Jonathan I so I think we’re gonna try to not have this be dialogue so appreciate your time thank you thank you

2:06:07 thanks apprciate that um I think we’ve got some one one all right I’m gonna go to one more person here and then we’ll jump to online um got three more people on the um yeah three more people on the list here and I think I’ve got one person online um at um Ashley

2:06:48 skeffington good welcome um hi thank you for listening this tonight uh my name is ashy second and I’m an English teacher here at the high school um so to that end um I’m going to ask everyone to sort of indulge me while I talk about um one of our core texts and while I talk about

2:07:09 symbolism in our familiar play the crstal just before he sent to gas John proor in a final Act of defiance tells Governor Dan for I have three children how may I teach them to walk like men in the world and other uh I reference this way because I’ve taught it here now for 11 years I know I cannot do it full Justice in the short time that we have and I’m sure nobody wants to hear the spark notes version so I’ll make this as quick as I can um School tells the story of the Salem wit trials but it also serves as an allegory from mcar the era politics in the United States and as I often remind my juniors the reason this particular play has endured is because it speaks to certain univers struggles struggles through

2:07:55 Justice fear and integrity that Echo the chaos across past and present sorry Echo across the p and present to the say it remains our familiar most produced FL and as I mentioned we teach it to our 113 as a final assessment for this unit I assigned my juniors of projects that requires them to compare The Crucible to an event from history over the years our students have identified straightened similarities between the play and the flight of many marginal groups they often talk to me in class about the Civil Rights Movement the Japanese determent the AIDS epidemic the S part five the scop throw trial the Holocaust and islamophobia in the post 911 America lately however my students have not been looking to the disant past they are

2:08:42 finding these parallels in their time and at this moment in their time training designed to Foster diversity is being deliberately erased from our government language at this moment in their time the government is threatened to withhold funding from federally sponsored organizations that promote inclusion for marginalized groups at this moment in their time the National Park Service has been forced to scrub the word transgender from The Stonewall Monument despite the fact that Stonewall was led by a black Trans and at this moment in their time 388 anti-lgbt plus bills are being considered by our nation’s legislature and I think most importantly at this moment in their time this school committee a body meant to ensure the safety and well-being of our students stands in front of their community

2:09:29 community consider a policy that would B symbols of safety and tolerance for our kids and they will remember the decision that we met I’ve heard some in suggest that the importance of flags and Banners is inflated calling them the a virtue signaling and insisting they really should not matter to that I should say you know I I think it goes without saying or it should go without saying that our daily action matter more than symbols but the context of this particular moment gives those symbols power just as it gives power to their removal in a time when our kids are a family most vulnerable those who study history and understand that systematic oppression doesn’t happen overnight and it doesn’t always happen in obvious ways it starts

2:10:14 small the elimination of a symbol may seem minor to some but to an lgbtq Plus student Walking The Halls of Marblehead High School where the esler is still casually and regularly thrown around as an insult it is anything but small I will also tell you PR that hangs at the back of my classroom clearly and silently conveys that certain parents have failed to teach their children that that word is not acceptable in the year 2025 and I’m not exaggerating I I chased the students in the Hall of less than a month ago for having shed that word um in the middle of the hallway I on February 13th our students presented you with what I believe is a comprehensive solution that aligns with the Supreme Court ruling of sh versus

2:11:01 Boston theyve consulted lawyers they’ve done their research just as we would expect any good NHS student to do ultimately we are the adults and like John propter we have been given an opportunity to prove our integrity how can we teach our children to Walk Through This World With decency if we sell our friends or worse if we sell out our students I’ll close this lecture on symbolism with one final example and I will address it to my students uh some of whom I think are watching um and I leave it to them to interpret it as they will if this B passes it passes but I do want my students to know that if the pride flag hanging at the back of my room must come

2:11:47 down I will absolutely not be the person who removes it and those who understand the importance of symbolism I you know what that means within the confines of thank

2:12:10 you Pio thanks John welcome um I have prep

2:12:19 box talk about freea just kidding it’s okay um I just I listen and I applaud everyone who had courage to come here and speaks and I and I think it’s great we live in a nation and a state and a town that allows this exchange of ideas but um I have to say that everyone here has been kind of focused on their right to speak but no one has men the right others not this building does not toong the students the building Community everyone in the stud everyone here being spoken tonight people who not here and who haven’t SP and so when you put a symbol on the

2:13:07 wall you speak for everyone even those who disagree and it strikes me that this conversation would probably be quite reversed if we were talking about in the dir case of the steppington uh reference a Christian plan which that case stands for putting it on the outside of going side or if we had a group of Christian conservative children who would like to put a flag up that was prct or if you had um a group of students who would like to put a flag off that says there were only two genders would we be supporting that right to free speech and what are we

2:13:53 doing to our Administration and our Educators putting them in the position to be the arbitrator to decide which of those fls come up and which of those fors come down it concerns me a great deal as what we’re doing to our children emotionally when we tell them that people are doing violence to them that we are erasing their symbols nobody here tonight is saying anything of the sort those symbols are not being erased it’s not going to be illegal to them on your private property on your person but you don’t get put your hat on someone else’s head and force them to C symol we’ve had that happen in his it’s never been a good result and so if we’re going to teach

2:14:40 our children we should teach them the full measure of what we’re talking about here some students have come up with a compliments others have not pred and some of them have not participated because they were afraid to be called homophobes they were afraid to be called racists they’re afraid we call those things because the people who claim safy make them feel unsafe and so the policy that the school committee the subcommittee is recommending is the correct one what should happen I think if we’re going to be inclusive is we should teach our children that they should be active

2:15:27 be in groups publish blogs newsletters have rallies where are their pride flags and their pride shirts and their BLM shirts proud but don’t force

2:15:47 others no they took the down I saw oh they yeah okay um I have um uh I don’t know the c MC McMan MC it’s it’s just like it’s

2:16:09 spelled is very sorry what was your first

2:16:14 name um I’ve been a resident of Marblehead for about five years and parent for a little bit longer than that um I’m the proud parent to children in elementary school here in town I’m a little embarrassed to admit this is my first school committee meeting um so like any good Elder Millennial I quickly took to the internet once I just heard about policies and I was really happy to that to learn about the school commity um and the school comm’s goals I twed them out again didn’t have a there so I go away we have a meeting tomorrow night too you’re welcome to join love to see yeah this is just a subcommittee there’s normally a lot more

2:16:59 people on your website that their objective is to make recommendations to the full board about changes to current policy additions of new policies and Bel of outdated poliy based on changes in the law Audits and recommendations from the administration um that was really helpful but it didn’t tell me exactly how you did it luckily I didn’t have to look very further much further you had a handy link right underneath that invited me to quit for more information I quit for more information and that brought me right to your policy um these are the policies that govern the school committee itself in doing it’s very very important work for this community um the policy that really caught my eye the most was titled the pup and their school district found on your website and it talks about the school

2:17:45 committee SCH responsibility for implementing statutory requirements pertaining to public education and local citizens expectations for the education of the community Le it talks about your desire I’m sorry it talks about your obligation to determine and assess citizens desire in service of this obligation you would note three intentions the first is maintaining a communication with citizens of the community who have chosen to represent them in the management of public I is what we’re doing um the second goal is to establish policies and make decisions on the basis of declared educational philosophy and goals and I love that but I again embarass to admit I don’t even know what the philosophy and goals are

2:18:31 for school committee I didn’t have to click much further I got right to the next Google doc and I your mission statement the school committee’s mission is to Foster in our students a passion for Learning and to provide a safe nurturing environment in which they can develop the values Knowledge and Skills needed to achieve full potential in their personal social and work lives and to become contributing members of society I have to say I couldn’t have chosen a better myself not any the third intent is to act as a truly representative bond for members of the community in matters involving public educ now I admittedly not an expert in these matters and I didn’t see an official Applause Ander here tonight but I do think based on the sheer amount

2:19:17 of support localized by members of this community in this meeting you have your answer as to what this community wants you asked for public comment and you asked for The public’s opinion and you got it here tonight I’m really proud of the students of this community including my own children who I hope will have a great care you there in Marblehead and I’m really proud of the students who set forth a proposed policy for the sub committee to consider I join everyone’s voices here tonight who shared their vocal support for those students in urging the subc committee to recommend that the full board adopt the proposed

2:20:02 else I don’t see anybody else online I don’t have any hands up I just wantan to oh sorry well let me just make I just hang on one second Jack I just want to make sure that um this is there anyone else online who would like to speak you just need there’s a little um raise hand symbol at the bottom that says raise hand if you raise your hand I can follow me that will show me a little raised hand right I don’t see anybody okay um so jeffie wanted to make a statement or yes because I think we’re gonna probably wrap it up okay great um so I know the man in blue shirt um but I know he said earlier talked about it as like either none or all um I think we

2:20:50 can all agree in this room that uh love is is much better than hate um I think the intention behind putting up a flag is very important but I also think that with the over 60 kids that have signed my petition so far the main proponent of why they signed it was their freedom to choose now the subcommittee Banning this would take away their decision to choose right their right to choose so I mean I stand opposed to this flag band because it takes away that right I mean we should be even if it’s complex even if it’s confusing we should be able to decide what sorry I’m coming up with this on FL

2:21:38 little hard to think um but I think the choice of it is very important and even if it’s complex and even if like you know we make a mistake I think it’s very important that we do that right I think that we should try our best to progress and to all love each other so you know exceptions I don’t think it’s a zero Su I don’t think that just because it’s complex we can you know find a way to

2:22:32 A fitting notes so I’d like to thank um I’d like to thank everybody

2:22:51 okay so I’m gonna ask folks fol folks okay folks Jack I’m gonna I’m gonna folks I’m gonna interrupt here and I’m GNA say we’ve been here for you know since 7 o’clock I know everyone feels very passionate about that I appreciate everybody’s input we had I counted I think 35 I might have Miss number um and we had Jack twice which was great um and I thank you for that and I just want to thank everyone for their input um both online and in person I know that this is a very um people fa strongly about it they feel very passionate about it this is information for us to take in as the policy subcommittee we will be um meeting in the coming days or weeks we’re going to have to figure out our next um our next meeting that will be

2:23:36 posted and will be announced um we will definitely accept emails we’ve had a flurry of emails in the last few days the email address is school committee at Marblehead schools.org what will come that will come to all of us and the superintendent um so people you know can share their thoughts or any thing they want to submit to us for consideration so I thank everyone for their input tonight um and I appreciate you coming out thank you meeting adjourn at 9