The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City school system announced that they banned the Confederate flag, swastikas and other threatening symbols from their campuses on Thursday.
The Board of Education voted unanimously to add language to their bullying policy to ban the flag and other symbols, according to a press release by chairperson James Barrett.
“We realize our decision will not receive universal support. However, we continually claim the safety of our students is our top priority… well, tonight we became a safer school district,” Barrett stated.
The decision was made after the recent violence in Charlottesville and widespread vigils held in the Chapel Hill area for the protests. It came two days after the Orange County school system banned the symbols from their dress code.
“It is important to note that we have not had problems in this area, due to the tremendous leadership of our school principals and their respective teams,” Barrett stated. “However, we took this proactive measure to make sure each principal had an airtight policy to stand on as they each work to maintain a safe and respectful learning environment. This specific revision to the policy will prevent problems from arising in the coming months and years.”
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
