KEYRIS MANZANARES: In 2020, Franklin County was embroiled in a major debate, should the public school dress code prohibit students from wearing the Confederate flag?

Countywide, this sparked conversations about race, history, and heritage.

PENNY BLUE: If you drive around Franklin County, you will see the Confederate flag flown prominently.

Along with, we still have a Confederate soldier on the courthouse lawn in Franklin County.

KEYRIS MANZANARES: Penny Blue grew up here and attended Franklin County Public Schools.

She remembers what it was like seeing symbols of the Confederacy.

PENNY BLUE: I know what it is to be in a, quote, unquote, "white school system" and to be a Black child and not be seen.

And therefore, I'm always striving to make certain that children feel seen.

KEYRIS MANZANARES: Blue was first elected to serve on the school board in 2013.

She says she felt strongly that students shouldn't be allowed to display the Confederate flag.

But she was constantly met with pushback by other school board members concerned with if banning the flag would infringe on students' freedom of speech.

PENNY BLUE: But freedom and speech in the school system, you restrict students, what they can do all the time.

It's a totally different story.

For instance, I can't tell you what to wear in the public square, but I can tell you what to wear in the public school system.

KEYRIS MANZANARES: Blue says it took the nation witnessing the murder of George Floyd followed by racial reckoning and the removal of Confederate statues to change the minds of those in Franklin County.

The current dress code explicitly prohibits the Confederate flag.

Nicholas Simopoulos, a Richmond attorney who practices education law, says school boards act as legislative bodies with the ability to adopt policies.

NICHOLAS SIMOPOULOS: It seemed that they had, the school board had evidence that the speech in question, the Confederate flag symbol, would actually cause disruption, would actually reasonably interfere with students' rights to be free, for example, from discrimination, and to learn in the school environment.

And so schools are not required to wait for something bad to happen in order to permissibly regulate speech.

KEYRIS MANZANZARES: School districts throughout Virginia voted to remove Confederate names, mascots, and imagery in light of racial reckoning.

But at this Virginia high school, the Confederate flag still greets students every day.

Hurley High School is located in Buchanan County, tucked away in the Appalachian Mountains.

Repeated requests for interviews to discuss the rebel flag display with Principal Greg Tester and Superintendent Sherry Fletcher went unanswered.

Students at Hurley High can't escape the presence of the Confederate flag.

The flag is on the basketball court, gathering spaces, and on athletic gear.

Simopoulos says, while the environments in Franklin and Buchanan County are similar, the key difference is- NICHOLAS SIMOPOULOS: We're talking here about government speech as opposed to private speech.

Not only is the speech supported and endorsed by the principal, but it appears to be supported and endorsed by administrators, which I assume would be the school board itself.

And that's, as a legislative body, they can make that decision, however repugnant somebody might actually find it to be.

KEYRIS MANZANARES: Former Principal Pam Tester defended the flag's prominence in a 2015 article with USA Today, saying, quote, "It means heritage, not hate," and, quote, "You won't find a single person in Hurley who thinks different."

There don't seem to be any public complaints being made about the flags at Hurley, but if there were, individuals could bring them to the attention of their school board, as it's a matter of government speech and they have the power to address it.

For VPM News, I'm Keyris Manzanares.