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| Pledge to be in-school only, principal says |
Harrington: Comment?
On the first day of school, Sept. 8, when the Pledge of Allegiance is heard on a loudspeaker at Arlington High School, will it be a public event? The Greater Boston Tea Party thinks so. The principal says no. An online notice at the Tea Party's Web site posted Aug. 8 lists this item under Wednesday, Sept. 8: "7:00 – 8:00am Arlington High School, 869 Mass Ave., Arlington, MA Join fellow citizens in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in support of Sena [sic] Harrington, who fought AND WON his battle with the School Committee to ensure the pledge was recited daily in his high school. Congratulations Sean – we will see you on September 8th." Asked whether the event is public, Principal Charles Skidmore responded in an e-mail Aug. 11: "I definitely don't see it as a public event. Students will be in their classrooms, saying the Pledge of Allegiance, and the general public is certainly not allowed into classrooms." Skidmore wrote that he will "work with other town officials to make sure that there is no disruption of classroom routine on opening day." Harrington, the AHS senior whose three-year push to have the Pledge again said at the high school resulted in a policy that the School Committee approved Aug. 3, has not responded to two requests for comment. He was asked Aug. 10 about a Facebook page pointing to the effort that the Tea Party has announced and whether he supports public involvement in this in-school exercise. The site says he is one of first members of the school's original Republicans Club and the founder of the Arlington High Teenage Republican Chapter. On Aug. 3, as school and union officials were involved in a lengthy, closed-door grievance, Harrington talked about his campaign in the hallway on the sixth floor of AHS. He called the vote a "great step for Arlington in the right direction." He said the Pledge had not been said consistently for 40 years at AHS. He said he thought his example might encourage other teens to get involved. "Look what I did?" he said. He said he has founded a chapter of a group seeking to attract teenage Republicans. A site for the Massachusetts Federation of Young Republicans is here >>, but there are no links.
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| Last Updated ( Sunday, 05 September 2010 07:13 ) |
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