Athletes at Vicksburg High and Warren Central will be allowed to wear their letterman’s jacket to functions at the opposing school under a new school district policy announced Tuesday.

Vicksburg Warren School District superintendent Elizabeth Duran Swinford said the new policy, which replaces separate standards at each school, is intended to foster a spirit of unity among the two schools.

“One of the things I’m trying to bring up is a strong sense of community. We are one school district, with one superintendent, one community. The fact we have two high schools doesn’t change that,” Swinford said. “We have to allow family and friends to visit each other and celebrate with each other.”

The issue came to the forefront last week, when two Vicksburg High basketball players were turned away from Warren Central’s “Meet the Vikings” event. Swinford said the players were denied entry because they were wearing their VHS letterman’s jacket, which violates Warren Central’s dress code for school functions.

Vicksburg High had a separate policy that allowed students from other schools to wear their colors while attending its “Meet the Gators” pep rallies.

Swinford said Warren Central’s policy was an old one originally intended to avoid confrontations between students at opposing schools. It had carried over through the years and rarely been broached.

Warren Central’s policy did not extend to actual sporting events or public functions like plays and band competitions, just school-specific functions like “Meet the Vikings.”

“It’s one of those unspoken rules that nobody realizes until it’s challenged,” Swinford said.

On Tuesday, Swinford met with athletic director Lum Wright, principals and assistant principals from both Vicksburg and Warren Central, as well as their respective junior high schools to come up with a standardized policy.

Under the new rule, students from Vicksburg High will be allowed to attend future “Meet the Vikings” events at Warren Central — and vice versa — provided they adhere to a written code of conduct.

Athletes participating in sports in the Mississippi High School Activities Association must already sign a form promising they will follow the code of conduct. Swinford said athletes in the Vicksburg Warren School District will sign another form when they receive their letterman’s jacket.

“They already have to sign that. We think we should take that a little notch above,” Swinford said, adding that few behavior problems at sporting events had been atributed to athletes. “Our athletes are our lowest number of referrals. They already know they should be good examples.”

Swinford also said athletes will have a more formal ceremony to receive their letterman’s jackets. It’s part of an effort to remind athletes what is expected of them, she said.

The school district provides the jackets when an athlete has earned his or her varsity letter.

“We’re just going to start creating an awareness that they’ll exhibit sportsmanship on and off the field,” Swinford said.