Arlington Public Schools Respond to National Media

After being thrust into the national spotlight for its stance on the Pledge of Allegiance, the Arlington Public Schools released a statement via the town website calling the national media reports "misleading."

"Reports circulating in the media that the Pledge of Allegiance is not recited in the Arlington Public Schools are inaccurate," Superintendent Kathleen Bodie said in her statement. "Students are welcomed, but not mandated, to join in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance as part of the morning routine in our elementary schools and the middle school. This practice provides leadership opportunities for our fifth grade and middle school students who lead the Pledge. Our current practice complies with legal requirements."

The statement comes on the heels of a day full of calls, emails and faxes from around the country to members of the School Commitee and administration regarding Arlington High School Senior Sean Harrington's impassioned plea last week to the School Commitee to reinstate the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance at the high school.

Though, as Bodie said, the elementary schools and Ottoson Middle School recite the pledge, the high school has not done so for decades. Last week, Harrington's plea to the committee resulted in a 3-3 tie vote on the motion to reinstate. A tie vote fails.

On June 30, Fox News picked up on the story and interviewed Harrington for a national spot. Since then, it has been on the front page of Fox News' website and garnered thousands of comments and emails from around the country.

"It is unfortunate that the national media has chosen to distort this very serious debate in a manner, which so badly misinforms the public," said School Committee Chairman Joseph Curro in the statement. "Recent reports have done little to present the facts about our school system and our community, and have been seized upon by many people throughout the country to target our dedicated school leaders with unwarranted hate mail and threats."