The Pledge of Allegiance Puts Arlington in the National Hot Seat

During a week that closed with our Arlington spent a lot of time in the national hot seat after denying a student's impassioned plea to reinstate the Pledge of Allegiance in the high school.

High School senior Sean Harrington and the Arlington Public Schools were thrust into the national spotlight after the School Committee deadlocked on Harrington's request reinstate the Pledge of Allegiance at Arlington High School at their June 22 meeting.

Though the pledge is recited in all of the elementary schools and at the Ottoson Middle School, it stopped being recited daily at the high school decades ago and the decision as to whether it is recited daily is left up to the individual school administration.

Harrington spent three years gathering more than 700 signatures for his petition to to reinstate the pledge in the high school. He presented it at the June 22 meeting and the committee voted 3-3. A tie fails.

The story went national after Fox News ran a report on the issue and soon the School Committee was flooded with phone calls, emails and threats.

Superintendent Kathleen Bodie and School Committee Chairman Joseph Curro released a joint statement last Wednesday 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," 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."

For Harrington, who became visibly distraught at last week's meeting, the coverage has been heartening. "The media has put us on a national stage and all eyes are on Arlington and we are all are waiting for School Committee to make the right move," said Harrington who was also interviewed by Channel 7, Channel 5, Fox Radio and many other national and local outlets.

For now it looks like the pledge will be recited every morning in the lobby of the high school, according to a memo sent from Principal Charles Skidmore to parents. This was something he had proposed long before the publicity, but Harrington had rejected. Skidmore said he would eventually move it to the classrooms."... After all students and teachers have had a chance to talk about appropriate behavior for those who do and don't participate in the pledge. I want the Pledge Of Allegiance to be meaningful to our students."