Proposed Marblehead School Flag Policy Decried As Discussion Postponed

MARBLEHEAD, MA — The Marblehead School Committee delayed a planned draft discussion of a proposed policy involving the presentation of flags in public schools on Wednesday morning after several students, parents and residents criticized the draft policy and the process set to implement it.

Those who spoke said the policy — which could give the School Committee sole authority over approving flags and potentially restrict flags to only the town, state and federal P.O.W. flag —could both negatively affect the sense of inclusion among students as well as act to stifle student voices.

There were also criticisms that the process has taken place largely during the summer in subcommittee meetings that are not accessible to many students and the greater community and that the draft discussion of the policy in front of the full School Committee was set for a hybrid meeting at 9 a.m. on a Wednesday with limited — albeit satisfactory under legal requirements— 48 hours notice.

"We have never had a flag policy, and that was fine, and it could continue to be fine," Marblehead School Committee Acting Chair Alison Taylor said. "Except for that the (previous school) administration asked us (to enact one) and by law when the administration asks us what a policy is we do have to develop one.

"I would like to have another listening session, for sure, if it's the will of the Committee, of course. I will also say that this (was not intended) as the final meeting (where the policy would be discussed) and I think there may be some miscommunication about that. ... This (was scheduled to be) the discussion of one of the drafts that we came up with (in the subcommittee).

"I want to make sure the community hears from us and not a Facebook group or a potentially misleading article about what is happening."

School Committee Chair Jennifer Schaeffner, who was participating online due to sickness, said her intention in putting the flag policy on the agenda was to begin the discussion in front of the full Committee and as a subcommittee "make sure we are going in the right direction with this."

"This is an iterative process," Schaeffner said. "I know a few folks made comments about the process taking place in the summer. The work of the School Committee does go on in the summer. I know that might be frustrating for some folks but we do get stuff done in the summer and are sort of hamstrung if we don't.

"But this will, clearly, have additional readings as we get into the school year so there will be opportunities for people to continue to express their thoughts on this."

Schaeffner later said she thought the Committee would be cutting the discussion short should it have happened on Wednesday and would be better served at a public hearing early in September.

Several North Shore communities, including Peabody, instituted formal flag policies in recent years after their legal counsel informed them that having a written policy that gives authority to accept or reject flags to a certain person or body is the best way to mitigate legal recourse if they chose not to allow a proposed flag that the greater community might find offensive or not in line with their believes and standards.

Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt told his City Council in July 2023 that having no policy at all is what leaves a municipality open to court action — as it did when Boston rejected the request to raise the "Christian" flag at City Hall Plaza based on concerns about the separation of church and state, and later lost a case argued in front of the Supreme Court in 2021.

"There could be a request from an organization that would be not what we want and we would not be proud to be raised above City Hall," he said at the time. "By having a policy in place we believe we are secure in making decisions about what flags are flown here."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)