A father sued the Falmouth School Department in Maine on March 3, accusing it of failing to follow state law by not allowing students an opportunity to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
Christopher Hickey accused the school district and Superintendent Steve Nolan of failing to provide his son, Clayton, the option to recite the pledge in violation of state law and the district’s policy, the Portland Press Herald reported. The lawsuit asks the Cumberland County Superior Court to issue an injunction requiring the high school to comply with state law.
“My client, Christopher Hickey, is seeking to ensure compliance so that his son Clayton, and all Falmouth students, can benefit from this important civic tradition,” attorney Jack Baldacci told the Press Herald. “We’re optimistic the court will act promptly to reinstate it.”
“A school administrative unit shall allow every student enrolled in the school administrative unit the opportunity to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at some point during a school day in which students are required to attend. A school administrative unit may not require a student to recite the Pledge of Allegiance,” section 4010 of Chapter 201 of Title 20-A of the Maine Revised Statutes says.
“At Falmouth High School, students are welcome to say the Pledge of Allegiance if they choose,” Nolan told the Daily Caller News Foundation. ” Now that this matter has been brought to our attention, we plan to take steps to provide an opportunity during the school day for students who wish to say the Pledge of Allegiance to do so during a designated time.”
The practice resumed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by the radical Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda that hit the World Trade Center and Pentagon, according to the Press Herald.
In 2015, South Portland High School created a written procedure in which the student body president would say, “I now invite you to rise and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance” after an online petition gathered 86 signatures following a local controversy, the Press Herald reported.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to add a quote from the Falmouth School Department Superintendent.
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