Tag: Hate-Free Schools Coalition of Albemarle County

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Coronavirus News

Left out: Albemarle teachers, parents call out inequity in reopening plans

Spanish teacher Filadelfia Soto is disappointed in the school district for not consulting with teachers on reopening sooner. PC: John Robinson

For weeks, Filadelfia Soto—along with hundreds of other teachers in Albemarle County—was left in the dark. She had received emails with “general information about school board meetings,” but nothing about how the school division planned to reopen in the fall, or when teachers could weigh in on the issue.

So when division staff rolled out three reopening scenarios—all allowing students to return to classrooms for face-to-face learning—at a July 9 school board meeting, she was as surprised as she was disappointed.

“They went from moving the opening date from August to September…and then all of a sudden they said we are reopening schools face-to-face,” says Soto, who teaches Spanish at Woodbrook Elementary School. When she heard the plans, she felt like she had no choice but to participate in risky in-person learning.

More than 600 teachers—nearly half of those in the division—share Soto’s sentiments, and signed an open letter criticizing their exclusion from the planning process, as well as a lack of consideration for their needs and concerns. Pointing to the rising coronavirus rates in the area, they believe the proposed face-to-face models are “unequivocally unsafe,” and have urged the school board to reopen schools virtually.

“Virtual is not the ideal learning environment for all students, but we must begin there. The rising rates of illness and death across Virginia and nationally do not make me feel confident entering into a building,” says Adrienne Oliver, an instructional coach for ACPS. “We need to begin there also because we’re going to end up there in some capacity.” 

Oliver and her colleagues also believe face-to-face learning puts marginalized communities, specifically those of color, in greater danger.

“It will be our most well-resourced families who opt their children out of that learning environment because they have the means. Which means you’ll then have school buildings that are filled with students who depend upon the resources that the school system can provide for them,” says Oliver, who is Black.

“Black and Latinx people…are [disproportionately] dying from this illness. To have a school that could potentially be filled with vulnerable students in any capacity places the burdens of the illness upon them,” Oliver says.

In response to community backlash, the district sent out a survey to teachers on July 10, asking them for their thoughts about reopening, and if they’d like to be part of a reopening task force. And on July 14, Superintendent Matt Haas announced he would draft an online-only option for the school board to consider at its July 30 meeting, when a final decision will be made.

But there is still a lot more equity work to be done, teachers say. Though ACPS sent out a survey to families last month, asking them if they preferred a hybrid or online reopening, the response rate was only 50 percent, says instructional coach Dr. Vicki Hobson.

“The voices of our most marginalized families…need to be central in the decisions that affect them. We need to find out what it is that they want and need, and how we can support that,” adds Hobson.

“We also need to consider how we’re asking for information. Some families don’t have access to devices or the internet in order to respond to an online survey,” she says. “We need to [have] alternative ways to get information, such as personalized phone calls with those we haven’t heard back from.”

In addition to contacting every family, the district should hear from all staff members, as well as community members and organizations, Oliver says.

Though distance learning did not go well for her eighth grader in the spring, parent Amanda Moxham believes that a virtual reopening is safest.

“We’ve been paying attention to the data locally around the number of cases and increases, and looking at the spikes across the country. And knowing that so many students will be returning to UVA this fall, there are [a lot of] dangers that exist,” says Moxham, who is a community organizer for the Hate-Free Schools Coalition of Albemarle County. “I don’t want to contribute to forcing teachers back into a physical school building who are not comfortable being there…[or] to increasing case numbers.”

Moxham is hopeful that teachers will be able to create a more effective distance learning model, such as by implementing live classes, before school starts on September 8, but is also frustrated with the district’s lack of outreach.

“What could have saved a huge amount of time was…[if] they had actually talked to the teachers first,” she says.

For the students who cannot learn from home, the district could work with community members and organizations to create alternative, yet safe learning options, suggests Moxham. For example, it could assign certain teachers a small group of students, and allow them to teach at outdoor locations.

But regardless of the school board’s decision, the district needs to figure out “how to make virtual learning equitable,” says Hobson. It should not only gather feedback from families about their experience with it in the spring, but also train teachers, set up more Wi-Fi hot spots, and distribute more laptops.

“We have a chance to do so much better than the virtual learning that we provided in the spring,” adds Oliver. “We see this as an opportunity to shift educational practice for the better.”

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(Don’t) take it down: Removal of Cale black history poster sparks backlash

Several Cale parents and teachers, along with other community members, came to last Thursday’s school board meeting to express their concerns over the removal of a black history poster. PC: staff photo

On February 10, local conservative radio host Rob Schilling posted a photo of a Black History Month poster from Cale Elementary School on his blog, with the headline “Fomenting dissension at Cale Elementary.” Three days later, Albemarle County Public Schools Superintendent Matt Haas left a comment agreeing that the poster was causing dissension among students, and said it was coming down that afternoon.

That decision—and the response to Schilling before the school community was officially notified—angered many Cale parents, teachers, and staff, along with other local residents, several of whom came to the February 27 school board meeting to express their concerns.

Cale teachers Lori Ann Stoddart and Katie Morgans read a collective statement signed by 33 teachers and staff at the school, some choosing to sign “X” instead of their names out of fear of being fired. 

“Matt Haas’ actions have done harm to the teachers, students, and families of the Mountain View/Cale Elementary community,” Stoddart said. “People of color within our staff, student body, and families feel demeaned and disrespected by the removal of a poster that contained nothing but historical fact and was used as instructional material for teachers in our school.”

The poster, written in colorful letters on yellow laminated paper, read: “Dear Students, They didn’t steal slaves. They stole scientists, doctors, architects, teachers, entrepreneurs, astronomers, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, etc. and made them slaves. Sincerely, your ancestors.” It was based on a poster Jovan Bradshaw, a teacher at Magnolia Middle School in Mississippi, created for her classroom for Black History Month last year.

Both in his comments on Schilling’s blog and at the meeting, Haas agreed that the poster’s message was “true and compelling.” But he said because the school’s Black History Month committee did not plan an academic program for the poster, it “spawned destructive confrontations between students who obviously lacked the mature perspective to understand the intent of the message.”

Although the same poster was put up in the school’s cafeteria last year, and didn’t cause any issues, Haas said at the meeting that this year’s poster was bigger, and placed outside the school’s main office, where it was much more visible.

He said about a dozen staff members reported to Cale Principal Cyndi Wells that the poster was “divisive,” and caused disagreements among students. Wells called him, he said, to discuss the issue and, after conferring with the school board’s legal counsel and Phil Giaramita, ACPS’ strategic communications officer, they decided to take the poster down.

ACPS Superintendent Matt Haas took heat for the removal of a Black History Month poster. PC: Hate-Free Schools Coalition of Albemarle County

 

In addition to not providing an “age-appropriate context” for the poster, Cale’s Black History Month committee, which includes about a dozen teachers, did not receive approval to put up the poster from Wells, who became principal last July, Haas explained. Stoddart and Morgans believe that Haas unfairly blamed Cale’s teachers.

“By abruptly removing the poster and falsely claiming that Mountain View/Cale teachers were not using the poster instructionally, Matt Haas robbed our school community of the opportunity for learning about and understanding each other,” Stoddard said during the meeting. “When Matt Haas could have led our school and our county in a bold conversation of our shared past, he chose instead to pander to those who did not want our community to evolve.”

Cale parent Tannis Fuller was particularly displeased with Haas’ communication about the poster’s removal. She said that on February 13, several hours after Haas left his comment on Schilling’s blog, she received a vague email from Wells about the poster, but nothing from Haas. 

“Am I to understand that Haas found it more important to assure a community not affected by the poster that the poster was coming down, than to assure the faculty, staff, and students of Cale that he had their backs?” Fuller asked. “To whom is Matt Haas accountable? The readers of the blog or the faculty, staff, and students of Cale?”

Haas, however, did not view his comments on Schilling’s blog as problematic.

“If I’m made aware that someone has posted something about the school system on their site, whatever I communicate I’m going to put it on that site. I also did it on the Hate-Free Schools [Coalition of Albemarle County] Facebook page,” he said. “That’s just what I do.” 

Hate-Free Schools member Amanda Moxham emphasized that the poster needed to be put back up, and encouraged the school to have a discussion with students about the controversy surrounding it.

“These are the conversations that need to be held at a young age so that when our students get to high school, they’re not combating each other over these ideologies,” Moxham said. 

Following public comment, Haas admitted he “often makes mistakes, especially in terms of my communication style,” and offered a formal apology. But he added that “we all need to take ownership,” and said “there was more that the school staff could have done prior to using the poster to set the stage for a positive dialogue and outcome.”

Cale’s Black History Month committee is currently working with the school’s administration, as well as with Dr. Bernard Hairston, assistant superintendent for school community empowerment, to determine what to do next. Hairston has also met with some African American parents at Cale, who suggested that “with the proper support and context and information, the poster could be [put] back on display,” Haas said.

“I support that…and I think that would be a great next step,” he said. “Someone might say, ‘Well, it’s too late because it was a part of African American History Month.’ But I would also say that it’s not one month out of the year…that’s part of reframing the narrative.” 

Correction 3/6: the Hate-Free Schools member who spoke at ACPS’s School Board meeting on 2/27 is named Amanda Moxham, not Maxhom.

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News

‘Deeply and irreparably sorry:’ Student who threatened ‘ethnic cleansing’ apologizes

Superintendent Matt Haas read a public apology from the Albemarle teen who made a racist threat against CHS students. Staff photo

The 17-year-old Albemarle County student who threatened an “ethnic cleansing” at Charlottesville High in March, prompting a city-wide school closure for two days, has offered an apology in a letter written from the Blue Ridge Juvenile Detention Center.

County schools Superintendent Matt Haas read the letter written by Joao Pedro Souza Ribeiro at a recent press conference.

“All students make mistakes and we want to be here to help them,” Haas said. “I think it will help people understand there is a person behind what happened.”

Ribeiro, who has no prior criminal record and whom prosecutors acknowledged showed no signs of carrying out violence, was charged with a felony and a misdemeanor for making the anonymous threat on the message board 4chan.

The teen says he tried to delete the post almost immediately, but he acknowledged that his explanation “should not and will not” be acceptable to the community.

“That website represents all that I abhor in this world,” Ribeiro said about 4chan, parts of which have been a haven for white supremacists and hate speech. “I regret including racial slurs, including one that targeted my own demographic group and that of my friends. Looking back, I don’t really understand why I did it. Maybe I was looking for support from the hateful people who traffic in the embrace of violence so I could then reveal to them what I really believed and tell them that the joke was on them.”

The letter prompted surprisingly little response on social media, and students contacted for this piece did not respond to a request for comment. Jane Mills, whose daughter is a senior at Albemarle High School, had mixed feelings.

“I run Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry, and we get people doing court-ordered community service, and for some reason, the apology felt like somebody made him do it,” she says. “But like most parents of teenagers, who were dumb teenagers at one time, too, I tend to forgive those dumb judgments and I think we are probably likely to forgive this kid.”

Ribeiro said he’s sorry for letting down the community, and specifically his parents, who cry when they visit him in juvenile detention. “I had never seen my father cry before,” he added.

At the press conference, Haas detailed new measures to encourage students to report potential threats, including an anonymous reporting system and a cash reward.

But in this case, reporting was not the problem. When asked about what the schools are doing to prevent students from posting something like this in the first place, county schools spokesperson Phil Giaramita says it’s “impractical” to block internet access on school property, and one of the most effective ways to deter this behavior is by making students aware of the consequences.

“We’re trying to help students realize that images posted on social media don’t disappear simply because they are deleted and that the punishment can be severe,” he says, though he didn’t offer details.

Amanda Moxham, an organizer with the Hate-Free Schools Coalition of Albemarle County, says her group is “deeply concerned” by the lack of anti-racist eduction in local schools.

She says the county school system “has not acknowledged their role in sustaining a racist system that creates a culture in which making a racist threat is viewed as a joke.”

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County warning: School board activists go to trial

A judge found the arrest of local mom Lara Harrison at an August school board meeting unconstitutional. Others arrested that day weren’t as lucky. Photo by Eze Amos

Five anti-racist activists were in court October 30, following their arrests at an August 30 special meeting of the Albemarle County School Board. But many community members feel like only one was handed down the verdict she deserved.

While Lara Harrison’s trespassing charge was dropped, four others were convicted of trespassing or obstruction of justice.

“There’s a little history to this,” said defense attorney Janice Redinger, who represented Harrison and Andrea Massey. Both moms were charged with trespassing after allegedly disrupting and refusing to leave the Albemarle County Office Building where the school board meeting was taking place.

At an August 23 meeting, the activists—many with the Hate-Free Schools Coalition of Albemarle County—showed up to speak during the public comment session to ask the school board to ban Confederate imagery and other hate symbols from the division’s dress code. Most didn’t get the chance.

Redinger said in court that Harrison was the only person allowed to speak before the school board shut the meeting down for alleged disruption. Activists were snapping their fingers in agreement with Harrison’s comments, “the least disruptive thing that one can do in order to share your support,” Redinger pointed out. But the school board alleges other disruptive activity such as cheering.

The aborted meeting was continued August 30, but the school board did not allow for any public comment. So some activists decided to hold their own “community meeting” in the lobby outside of Lane Auditorium, she said.

These activists, including Harrison, began chanting, singing, and clapping for their cause. Alleging that they were still disrupting the meeting happening inside of the auditorium behind closed doors, County Executive Jeff Richardson testified that he approached Harrison and another woman and asked multiple times, “Please quiet down or you will have to leave.” He said he never specifically directed any officer to begin making arrests. “My goal was for the group to just quiet down.”

Richardson said he turned to Lieutenant Terry Walls and expressed concern that the activists weren’t quieting down or leaving, and Walls testified that he then began making arrests, starting with Harrison.

Redinger argued that the arrest was unconstitutional because Richardson never explicitly directed Walls to break out the handcuffs, and only Richardson had the authority to make that call.

Judge William Barkley agreed, and dropped Harrison’s charge. Harrison then took a seat in the gallery of the courtroom—among dozens of supporters from the local activist community—to learn the fate of the other three defendants.

“It was vindicating for that moment to hear that the judge agreed that it was an unjust arrest,” says Harrison. “At the same time, I felt very anxious for my co-defendants.”

Massey, Redinger’s second client, wasn’t as lucky. She was inside Lane Auditorium peacefully protesting with tape over her mouth, holding a large banner that said, “RACISTS DON’T GET RE-ELECTED.”

Witnesses agreed that the board meeting remained uninterrupted until an unnamed woman burst into the room to call for help, yelling that activists outside were being “brutalized” by police. Board Chair Kate Acuff ordered her out, and Massey, speaking for the first time, said, “You’re being ridiculous.”

“Immediately, without resolution, without delay, Kate Acuff ordered her to leave and directed the police toward [Massey],” said Redinger. Though Acuff read a statement at the beginning of the meeting, which said any disruption would result ejection, Redinger argued that Massey couldn’t have disrupted the meeting, because it had already been disrupted when the woman barged in and called for help. For that reason, Redinger said there were no grounds to arrest Massey.

But the judge said Massey’s failure to leave after being asked to by Acuff and an officer was enough to find her guilty of trespassing.

Defense attorney Andrew Sneathern adopted Redinger’s argument for his client, Sabr Lyon, who was inside the meeting with Massey, and was also found guilty of trespassing.

With tape over her mouth, and holding her own sign, Lyon stepped away from her seat and moved closer to the podium at the front of the auditorium. But Sneathern said she never said word until she was being arrested.

According to prosecutor Juan Vega, Acuff gave Lyon a warning and asked her to leave. Her arresting officer testified he wasn’t specifically asked to arrest her and said he attempted to get her to leave without being arrested. Lyon allegedly said, “It’s up to you,” and left peacefully when he cuffed her and escorted her out. The judge found her guilty of trespassing.

Last up was Francis Richards, who got caught in the commotion outside of the auditorium. He said he saw a man grab a friend of his and he inserted himself between them to protect her.

The man turned out to be Deputy Police Chief Greg Jenkins, who was in plainclothes and who testified that he announced he was an officer. But several others testified that they didn’t hear him and had no idea who he was.

Defense attorney Bruce Williamson examined video of the chaos, and said if Jenkins ever truly announced his position, no one reacted. And while Jenkins testified that he had a badge, handcuffs, and a gun, Williamson said they weren’t visible.

Richards, who was charged with trespassing and obstruction of justice, was found guilty of the latter.

The prosecutor asked for a 60-day jail sentence for Richards because his encounter was physical, and 30-day sentences for Massey and Lyon. He wanted all of the activists to be banned from the county office building and school board meetings for two years.

The judge suspended the sentences on the condition of good behavior for two years, but chose to convict them to send a message.

Samantha Peacoe, who was also arrested for obstruction of justice, entered a plea deal before the trials and was sentenced to 30-days with all time suspended.

“We’re disappointed but not surprised by the judge’s upholding of white supremacy by targeting and finding guilty peaceful protesters that should have never been arrested in the first place,” says Harrison. “Every time we’re faced with the state trying to silence us and intimidate us into stopping what we’re doing, we just show up stronger.”

Walt Heinecke, an associate professor at UVA who observed the trials, says he found them “troubling and problematic.”

“[It] was just a spectacle orchestrated by the school division, the county government, and the commonwealth’s attorney to signal a message to citizens who want to actively participate in dissent in government processes that they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” he says.

It’s as if public dissent has become illegal, he adds.

“I’d like to remind everybody that when I was a teenager during the ‘60s and early ‘70s, there were dissenters in American blowing up banks, blowing up government installations,” he says,  “and now we’ve gotten to a point where if someone snaps their fingers, it’s a national security threat.”

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‘Order over justice’: Community further criticizes school board

Lisa Woolfork, an associate professor at UVA, said the Albemarle County School Board’s decision to have protesters arrested at its last meeting was a “complete embarrassment, and a moral failure.” eze amos

“You can jail revolutionaries, but you can’t jail the revolution,” were the words scrawled on a giant white sign held by a man in sunglasses.

It was the first meeting of the Albemarle County School Board since the August 30 one where six anti-racist activists were arrested and hauled off in handcuffs for allegedly being disruptive, and where one was sent to the hospital after a police officer knocked him to the ground.

This time, things were more peaceful—board chair Kate Acuff only threatened to have one community member removed for clapping.

Activists with groups such as Hate-Free Schools Coalition of Albemarle County have put intense pressure on the board for over a year to make county schools more inclusive and safe for all students—by, among other things, banning Confederate imagery currently permitted in the school division’s dress code. In response, a panel of nine volunteer students has been tasked with writing an anti-racism policy that will be implemented at all county schools, says school spokesperson Phil Giaramita, and a re-examination of the dress-code policy could happen subsequently.

Albemarle County School Board Chair Kate Acuff threatened to have one community member removed for clapping at the September 18 meeting. eze amos

That response has not satisfied activists, who want Confederate imagery banned now, and who have been outraged at the school board’s aggressive attempts to limit dissent.

Tension was high at the September 18 meeting, and Superintendent Matthew Haas, perhaps hoping to set a new tone, began with a statement declaring that county and city schools will join together to end racism and discrimination in their hallways, and close opportunity gaps.

“Discrimination against diverse people of color is still deeply ingrained in American culture,” he said. “Whether we call it racism or systemic bias, it results in inequitable opportunities for African American and Latino students.”

But the nearly 20 community members who had signed up for public comment wanted to talk specifics.

After a warning that any sounds of support or non-support could result in ejection from the meeting, a retired Henley Middle School teacher of 25 years stood up to speak.

Margie Shepherd said she had successfully argued before the board a decade ago that students using hate speech should be disciplined, and now the same conversation has resurfaced.

Because those who agreed with her weren’t allowed to cheer, or even snap, they silently waved their hands in support as Shepherd said Confederate symbols “make schools less welcome and less safe for our students of color.”

Matthew Christensen spoke next, and criticized the board for not being open to two-way communication, which it promises in its code of conduct.

“Each and every one of you needs to think very long and very hard about who you are and what you want to represent to this community,” Christensen said.

School board members are aware of the danger they’re putting students in by allowing such “traumatizing imagery” in schools, he claimed.

“And yet you do nothing,” he said. “You pretend to care about our children. You pretend to care about our community, and yet, you have shown over and over again that you don’t.”

Lisa Woolfork, an associate professor at UVA, called the board hostile, and said its decision to have activists arrested was a “fetishization of order over justice,” a “complete embarrassment, and a moral failure.”

While the board made no apologies for the previous meeting’s arrests, school board member Graham Paige, a retired teacher of 30 years, stayed back to talk with some of the remaining activists. “A dress code and anti-racism policy that benefits all of our students is really the mutual goal of Hate-Free Schools and the board,” he said.

The board will next meet September 27. And the activists have promised they’ll be there, too.

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Activists arrested: Violence erupts outside Albemarle school board meeting

A few silent, civil protesters stayed inside the auditorium. Eventually three were asked to leave for disrupting the meeting, and two were arrested. Staff photo

Public meetings held by elected officials in Charlottesville no longer go uninterrupted. But last night’s Albemarle County School Board meeting in which six people were arrested and one was hospitalized was a meeting of a different breed.

For about a year, the Hate-Free Schools Coalition of Albemarle County has pressured the school board to reexamine its dress code policy, and ban all Confederate imagery in an effort to dismantle systemic racism.

When the school board shut down its August 23 meeting after half an hour because of alleged disruption from the anti-racist activists, it planned a special August 30 meeting to resume its business, but with no public comment session.

It was at that meeting that some members of the Hate-Free Schools Coalition and other community activists held their own open forum outside the doors of Lane Auditorium, where the school board was holding its public session in the Albemarle County Office Building.

Cheers and chants from the group could be heard inside the auditorium, and things got ugly after county officials asked coalition members to quiet down.

“We aren’t going anywhere, and the more they try to silence us, the louder we will be,” said organizer Lara Harrison to about 50 people who were seated in folding chairs.

She called for the resignation of board member Jason Buyaki, who wore a necktie featuring versions of historic Confederate flags to the previous meeting.

“Racists must resign,” the group started chanting loudly as County Executive Jeff Richardson approached and said they’d have to lower their volume or leave. It wasn’t long before police cuffed Hate-Free Schools Coalition organizer Amanda Moxham, who was leading the group chant, and their chorus changed to sounds of screaming, and people falling over chairs made of plastic and metal.

Some community members demanded to see officers’ badge numbers as the police arrested four people outside the auditorium.

Michael Reid was knocked to the ground by officer Greg Jenkins, who claimed Reid assaulted him. The plainclothes cop straddled Reid and scolded him while aggressively gesturing at him with his right pointer finger.

Reid lay motionless on the ground for several seconds. Onlookers noticed his face beginning to turn purple, and continually called for him to receive medical attention.

Onlookers called for medical help as Michael Reid lay motionless on the ground. Police said an ambulance arrived for him after they arrested him and escorted him out of the building. Staff photo

Three uniformed officers, all larger than Reid, surrounded him and cuffed him tightly. Opening his eyes, Reid yelled that they were hurting him, and agreed to stand once they loosened his cuffs. Reid was escorted out on his feet, and police said an ambulance had been called for him. He was discharged from the emergency room with a summons that night.

Approximately two dozen police officers were on the scene.

Inside the meeting, a small group of anti-racist activists were peacefully protesting. Most had tape across their mouths that said “ban it,” and some held a massive sign that read, “racists don’t get re-elected.”

Three of those protesters “became disorderly,” according to a press release from the Albemarle County Police Department, and School Board Chair Kate Acuff asked them to leave. Two of them were also arrested.

Moxham was not charged. Reid was charged with trespassing, along with Andrea Lynn Massey, Sabr Lyon, Lara Lynn Harrison, Samantha Wren Cadwalder Peacoe, and Francis Xavier Richards. The latter two were also charged with obstruction of justice, and all arrestees were processed at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, except for Reid, because he was hospitalized.

“The School Board as a group was committed to getting through the business it was elected to do,” Acuff said in the release. “Fortunately, with the help from the county attorney and county police, we were able to do that. We strive to hold meetings in a civilized manner.”

Superintendent Matt Haas said in the same release, “We are grateful to the Albemarle County Police Department and county staff for protecting our board, staff, parents, students, and community members. Overall, we were able to have a peaceful and productive meeting thanks to their efforts.”

Said Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Tracci, who was also on the scene, “The right of free expression provides no right to engage in criminal misconduct.”

Protesters who left the building were not allowed to re-enter the public meeting, and press was only allowed to go back inside after showing credentials.

But inside Lane Auditorium, school board members did not appear to be concerned about what had just happened right outside of their doorway. They continued with their scheduled agenda, which included an update on the school division’s new anti-racism policy.

A panel of nine volunteer students has been tasked with writing the policy that will be implemented at all county schools, says school spokesperson Phil Giaramita.

“Truly, [racism] has become part of the daily life we go through every day,” said Western Albemarle High School senior and policy writer Cyrus Rody-Ramazani. “It breeds, or it almost makes people feel comfortable.”

So far, the students have suggested an anonymous reporting system for racism. This fall, they will officially present the policy they’ve drafted, and Giaramita says the division is waiting to hear their recommendations before addressing the dress code.

County schools are also considering the “constitutional issues” of a dress code that bans specific imagery, rather than the code’s current language that prohibits students from wearing anything violent or vulgar.

In fact, they’ve been burned for that before.

In April 2002, Alan Newsom, a Jack Jouett Middle School sixth-grader, wore a purple T-shirt advertising the NRA Shooting Sports Camp he had attended the previous weekend to learn about rifle target shooting and gun safety.

Newsom was asked to remove the shirt with three firearms on it, which led to a $150,000 First Amendment lawsuit against the school board, the superintendent, and Jack Jouett principals.

After two years of litigation, the suit was settled and a judge allowed Newsom to wear his purple NRA camp shirt to school.

The new dress code policy proposed by the Hate-Free Schools Coalition is grounded on the premise that: “All children deserve to feel safe in school.”

Lyon, who was arrested at the August 30 school board meeting, held a sign with those words painted on it at the meeting the previous week.

“The bottom line is we’re trying to protect our kids,” says Moxham, a mother of three.

Immediately following the election in 2016, she says a group of students wore Black Lives Matter shirts to school. “And in response to that, a number of students coordinated to wear Confederate imagery to school in order to intimidate…It got so bad that the police were actually called.”

Moxham says this instance has been corroborated by eye-witnesses including students, but school officials deny it ever happened.

“I do know of one incident that resembles this story because a member of the coalition brought it up some time ago, and I was able to track down the facts by speaking with the assistant principal who was personally involved,” says Giaramita.

The school spokesperson says last year at Monticello High School, a student was distributing Black Lives Matter shirts before class in the cafeteria. A few students said they were offended, and would wear confederacy-related shirts, which they did the next day.

“The assistant principal talked with all students involved and according to him, the student who was distributing the Black Lives Matter shirt willingly agreed to no longer do so and the students wearing the Confederate shirts agreed to no longer do so.”

This approach of education and counseling over discipline is what’s now being considered in the revised dress code, “ironically enough,” says Giaramita.

In his version of the story, police were not present. County police were not immediately able to corroborate either record.

Coalition members plan to continue fighting to end racism in schools.

“Confederate imagery and Confederate history certainly needs to be remembered, but it doesn’t need to be revered,” says Moxham. “By not explicitly banning the Confederate flag and white nationalist imagery, they are allowing for, enabling, and not making a strong statement that this is a school that supports non-discrimination and anti-racism.”

Coalition members declined to comment on the arrests made August 30, but posted a statement to their Facebook page, which said small children who witnessed the “police brutality” were sobbing outside of the county office building and have been “traumatized.”

“Six parents and community members arrested because we want ACPS to protect our kids,” it said. “You’re either racist or anti-racist.”