[B]URLINGTON — High school student activists notched a victory Tuesday night: The Burlington School Board voted unanimously to permit a Black Lives Matter flag on the campus.
The flag will fly on the Burlington High School campus for the remainder of the academic year. In future years, students will be required to petition the school board annually to raise the BLM flag every February during Black History month.
The students read from a resolution from the Social Justice Union, which asked the board to stand in solidarity with Montpelier High School, which was the first Vermont school to raise a BLM flag on campus.
“Flying the BLM flag not only recognizes students of color, but it also creates a welcoming ethos and helps to bridge Burlington communities together,” they said.
Cheers broke out in the Hunt Middle School Library after the resolution’s passage.
Students wearing Black Lives Matter T-shirts presented school commissioners with a petition bearing more than 450 signatures. School Board member Liz Curry wore a Black Lives Matter sweatshirt and student representative Isaac Jenneman also put on a Black Lives Matter T-shirt during the meeting.
The flag-raising is tentatively set for Monday.
Board members praised the student-driven initiative. “It was a special moment,” said board member Jeff Wick on the resolution. “To just see the joy (on students’ faces) when the kids succeed.”
Eli Pine, a member of the Social Justice Union, was ecstatic about the School Board vote. “I’m overwhelmed with excitement,” he said.
Burlington High School student and social justice member Zanevia Wilcox said she was thankful that the students’ push for equality gained traction. She pointed out that Burlington “prides itself on being a community and we worked together to have our voices heard,” she said. “At times, it felt like we were voicing our opinion, and it was going in one ear and out the other.”
Former School Board Chairman Mark Porter also praised and supported the resolution, but noted that the district should also extend similar consideration to other groups in the district, such as Asian-Americans, Latinos and the LGBT community.
Students of color account for 35.4 percent of the Burlington School District population.
