BOICEVILLE, N.Y. -- Onteora School District leaders are asking students and parents to voice their opinions at school board meetings about whether or not the district should ban students from using Confederate symbols.

Representatives said teachers brought the issue up following the protests in Charlottesville, Va., this summer by white supremacists, where one counter-protester was killed.

"Some teachers stood up and said 'I would like you to address this.' So we try and be as responsive as we can, especially since we see the benefit of deepening the dialogue on the subject of inclusivity and diversity," said Onteora Board of Education President Kevin Salem.

District leaders agree that the flag -- which became closely associated with the defeated Confederacy after the end of the Civil War, and was used in the late 1940s and '50s by segregationists opposing the civil rights movement -- is offensive. They are questioning whether prohibiting Confederate symbols violates free speech.

The school has a dress code which prohibits items that, according to the school’s website, “denigrate others on account of color, creed, disability, sex, gender, national origin, ethnic group, sexual orientation, race, religion, religious practice, weight, or socio-economic background.”

The dress code, however, does not spell out which items would fall into those categories.

"We are going to continue working with the administration and the teachers and the students to continue looking at the deepest possible solutions,” said Salem.  

District representatives said the school is also having ongoing discussions with district lawyers about the matter. In addition, Onteora Superintendent Victoria McLaren said aside from the discussions, the district has made additional efforts to increase training materials on a number of topics, like inclusivity and how to address what happened in Charlottesville, in classrooms.

"We at the district level want to always ensure that we have a safe environment for our students that’s free of any kind of hate or discrimination,” she said.