Arlington School Committee chair drafts pledge proposal, meets with state next week

By Brock Parker, Town Correspondent

School Committee Chairman Joseph Curro has drafted a policy for saying the Pledge of Allegiance in Arlington Schools, and school officials will meet with the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to discuss the issue next week.

In a letter to school officials dated July 7, Curro recommended that all students and staff in Arlington Schools be given the opportunity to say the pledge in a group each day.

Curro also suggested that building administrators be given “reasonable flexibility” about how the group recitations of the pledge are conducted, and that no one can be compelled to say the pledge.

Curro sent the letter to several school officials, including School Committee member Judson Pierce, chair of the Policy and Procedures Subcommittee, in hopes that the proposed policy will be considered at the subcommittee’s meeting about the pledge on July 20.

But Sean Harrington, the Arlington High School senior who's been fighting for three years to have the pledge recited at his school, said that he thinks the pledge should be broadcast over the public announcement system at the school, and the decision should not be left up to school principals.

"We've left it up to the principals before and we've seen what happens," Harrington said.

The pledge has not been said at Arlington High School for years, and controversy erupted around the issue last month when Harrington, asked the School Committee to pass a policy that would require that the pledge be broadcast over the intercom each day so willing students could participate in the recitation.

The School Committee voted 3-3 on the proposal, and the tie vote meant the proposal failed. But in the two weeks since the vote, as debate about the issue rose to a fever pitch and school officials reported receiving hate messages and threats from around the country, Arlington High School Principal Charles Skidmore has said he would lead the pledge in the lobby of the high school each morning before school starts beginning this fall.

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) spokesman JC Considine said last week that the department believes all students should be given the opportunity to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance in school.

Curro also said in his letter that he will join Pierce in a meeting with DESE next week to discuss the pledge.

Harrington said he's mulling whether he should pursue litigation or file an inquiry with DESE about the pledge being said at the high school. He also said he mailed a letter to President Barack Obama Tuesday requesting his support.

Harrington, an associate member of the Arlington Republican Town Committee, said he wrote the president because in the last week the controversy has become a national story, and he is seeking bi-partisan support for having the pledge in Arlington schools.

"For three years I wasn't taken seriously on this, and now the media is in on this and [the School Committee members] are taking it seriously,'' he said.

The pledge policy drafted by Curro states:

RECITATION OF PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

At the commencement of each school day, all students and staff shall be afforded the
opportunity to participate in a group recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Said recitation shall be led by a volunteer or a sound recording over the school public
address system or in another manner to be determined by the building administrator, in
consultation with the extended school community. Wherever possible, this practice shall
be structured so as to provide students with leadership opportunities.

Individuals wishing to utilize this time for silent reflection may do so without sanction.

Harassment of any individual for their choice as to whether to participate or disruption of
the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance shall not be tolerated.

The Superintendent shall be responsible for ensuring adherence to this policy, along with the development and regular review of supplementary programs of civics education.