Walpole School Committee Apologizes for Resident's Confederate Flag

The Walpole School Committee has apologized to residents offended by a confederate flag flown on private property near Walpole High School.

A discussion on the school’s past association with Confederate flag is the first new business item on the agenda of the Walpole School Committee meeting Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall. School officials are anticipating a large turnout for the meeting.

Because the Walpole teams are named the “Rebels,” they used to have the Confederate Flag as part of their insignia. In 1988 the Walpole School Committee directed the Athletic Department at Walpole High School to ensure that any Confederate flags be removed from the Walpole High School uniforms, and that teams be instructed that singing Dixie could be a hurtful and divisive practice and therefore must also be disallowed. In 2009, the Walpole football coaches, players and parent boosters supported this decision.

Walpole Public Schools and School Committee’s joint statement regarding the Confederate Flag:

“The Confederate flag is viewed as a divisive, hurtful and offensive symbol by many people. The Walpole School Committee apologizes to anyone who may be offended by the private citizen who chooses to display a Confederate flag on private property in close proximity to the Walpole High School field. It does not in any way reflect values that we support and is not a symbol associated with or supported by Walpole Public Schools.”

There is a neighbor who refuses to take down a large Confederate flag near Walpole High School, the Boston Globe reported.