If You Want To Say The Pledge of Allegiance, You'll Have to Leave the Room

The Patriot Room ^ | November 19, 2008 | Bill Dupray

[shempy]

I agree with you, UncleDick. I don’t much believe in pledging loyalty to a flag or a country. I pledge allegiance to liberty and justice for all, wherever they can be found. The USA, our government, and even our flag, all can morph, devolve, and change.

[Bob J]

Agreed. If one must pledge than pledge to the underlying principles that make this nation one deserving of admiration.

Question for the pledge humpers...if Obama, Pelosi, Reid and Hillary make a cesspool of this once great nation, will you still demand oral, public allegiance from all on a daily basis?

[A Woodbury Parent]

We NEVER ‘banned’ the pledge from our classrooms!

Here is the official press release from our School Board. Our School Board Chair is a Christian Conservative who homeschooled her children and lobbies the Vermont legislature for school choice.

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Press Release
Friday, November 21, 2008
12:00 pm EST
From: Woodbury, Vermont School Board
RE: The Pledge of Allegiance
**************

WOODBURY, VERMONT: The Woodbury School Board members wish to make a statement regarding the misinformation in the media about the situation
related to the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in the Woodbury
Elementary School.

-— It has been the tradition at Woodbury Elementary School for more than
ten years to recite the Pledge at the weekly school assembly. At some point
in the previous school year, the Pledge was dropped from the meeting. This
was not intentional, but an oversight due to scheduling conflicts in the
weekly assembly. When the situation was brought to the attention of the
Principal, the weekly recitation was returned to the weekly school meeting.

-— A petition signed by over 300 registered voters in Woodbury requested
that the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance “.be made part of the school
day routine.” The Board asked the school staff to come up with a way to
comply with the desire of the community, which they did.

-— Currently, the whole school community (consisting of 55 children plus
teachers) assembles each morning in a large foyer connecting the four
classrooms of the school. As the children stand, a sixth grader is in
charge of reading the announcements and leading the Pledge. The students
remain in the foyer for recitation of the Pledge and then step back into
their classrooms after the Pledge has been recited. Those children and
teachers with a religious or philosophical belief that makes recitation of
the Pledge a violation of their conscience have the option to abstain from
the recitation.

-— The Pledge has not been “banned” from the classroom, nor has “under
God” been banned. The board has now voted twice to support the decision of
the staff to incorporate recitation of the pledge into the school day
routine as requested by the petition. At this point, the staff has chosen
to have the 55 students at Woodbury Elementary School recite the Pledge as a
community (as it has traditionally been done) rather than in their
individual classrooms.

-— This conversation has never been about should the Pledge be said, but
about how often and where it should be said. The Pledge is now said on a
daily basis in the Woodbury Elementary School and there is overwhelming
support among parents and students for this current arrangement.

**************
Contact:
Retta Dunlap, chair of board
PO BOX 72
Woodbury, VT 05681