By Michael Bielawski
In an apparent setback for Black Lives Matters activists, a proposal to erect a third flagpole dedicated to political/ ideological/ cause flags at Milton High School was voted down unanimously by the school board last Thursday night. Installing the third flag pole – as proposed unanimously by an advisory policy committee – would cost $4,500. Like many school districts, Milton is facing a large property tax increase. “That’s a lot of money in a very tight budget year,” one Milton resident wrote to Vermont Daily Chronicle.
Board Chair Kumilia Long has proposed limiting flags to Vermont and U.S. flags only on the existing two flagpoles. 13 community members attended the meeting Thursday to express support for Long’s proposal. Several were veterans, most of them spoke to the board.
The ‘third pole’ proposal was put forth as an alternative to banning political/ideological flags on the two existing poles. The BLM flag has been flying since the movement gained increased prominence after the 2020 killing of George Floyd. Just 28% of students still want the Black Lives Matter to fly on the school flag pole, a student representative reported the results of a poll to the school board.
Five students, led by teacher Peter Wyndorft, attended the meeting in support of the third pole. They presented a petition which they said was signed by 147 students.
Allison Duquette, a former school board candidate, writes summaries of each meeting. She shared her report with VDC. She details how during public comment impassioned supporters and critics each made statements concerning the flag policy.
Later in the meeting, an anonymous survey revealed where students stand on the matter of having an extra flagpole for student causes: most students do not want it.
The survey asked three questions: Do the students want the flagpole? Would they use it? The third asked for more feedback.
Duquette summarized the methodology.
“This was an online anonymous survey that was emailed twice to all students. About 30% of the student body, 140 students, took the survey. A plurality of those answered “No” to question one at almost 44%,” she wrote.
The remaining respondents were split between neutral and yes at about 28% each.
She continued, “A majority of the students, 64%, who took the survey answered “No” to question two, 24% were neutral and only 11% said “Yes”.
She summarized more of the feedback. She wrote, “Only 52 students answered question three and the frequent themes of those answers were only wanting the US and VT flags, feeling that one flagpole is sufficient, concern for division, and liking the idea of a student interest flagpole.”
Concerned resident Mary Callahan spoke with VDC by phone on Thursday earlier in the day. She shared some of the email exchanges that took place between her and local community leaders.
Even before learning about the survey, she questioned the narrative that the community wants the BLM flag flown at the school.
“When we have members of the school board who refuse to speak up either for or against the BLM flag and give their reasons, it’s a sign of the same old song and dance that the board is really just a prop and not there for accountability and thus, not there for the children,” she wrote.
Callahan questions what the public benefit of having the BLM flag up at the school.
“Nobody on the select board or the school board could give me one single example of ‘systemic racism’ that occurs today in my town and not one single person on either board could give me one example that I could measure that showed me the benefit of displaying the BLM flag on classroom’s for kids as young as fifth grade? Somehow, we just go along with it. Why?”
She also wrote that extreme ideologies are teaching children to feel bad.
“We are forcing our kids to be ashamed of who they are and where they come from INCLUDING those kids who are family members of law enforcement or Jewish children and families in our community and Muslims in our community for that matter. We make a spectacle of every single thing, we make categories and division,” she wrote.
Part of Duquette’s summary of the public comments touched upon this matter.
“Susan, community member, supported Chairman (Kumilia) Long’s original proposal and told a story of being at the grocery store and overhearing young children telling each other that they hate each other because they are white,” she wrote.
Milton High is not the only school debating whether to bring down its BLM flag, members of the Champlain Valley School District School Board are considering taking theirs down as well. Some residents including people of color have suggested that it’s time the flags come down.
The author is a reporter for the Vermont Daily Chronicle