SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Public Schools does not currently have a policy around the Pledge of Allegiance, but that may soon change depending on how future School Committee discussions go.
The committee conducted preliminary discussions about implementing such a policy during its Oct. 2 regular meeting, and it is expected that a more detailed discussion around the topic will happen at the committee’s Legislative and Contracts subcommittee in the near future.
“All of my children went through the Springfield Public Schools, and it seemed to be a little scattershot as to whether or not you had to say the Pledge of Allegiance or not,” said School Committee member Peter Murphy, who added that many parents have asked him if SPS has any kind of pledge policy.
Currently, a Massachusetts statute in conjunction with a West Virginia case from the early 1940s states that requiring students and staff to recite the pledge is a violation of their First Amendment rights.
According to Jeremy Saint Laurent, the chief school counsel for the School Department, although the statute is in step with the First Amendment, it still allows schools to institute a policy giving students the opportunity to recite the pledge.
“The statute is interpreted to fall in step with the requirements of the First Amendment and not compel speech but allow schools to put a policy on the book that allows students the opportunity to recite the pledge should they choose or should their parents, in conjunction with whatever policy is on the book for that particular school, allow the student to recite the pledge,” Saint Laurent said.
Ian Keefe, a local attorney representing the School Committee, said that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees does not have a sample Pledge policy that school districts and departments can follow. However, some districts across the state have already implemented their own policy, including Brookline Public Schools.
During the Oct. 2 meeting, Keefe recommended that SPS follow Brookline’s rules, which state that the flag will be displayed inside the schools, but reciting the pledge is a voluntary practice.
“You can’t pressure anyone to participate or not to participate,” Keefe said. “It’s a complete voluntary basis, and so this would be something that I would recommend.”
Auly Dilone, the student representative for the School Committee and junior at Putnam Vocational Technical Academy, said she recites the pledge during morning announcements at Putnam, but no one did that during her time at Springfield Renaissance.
“No one has told me I have to say it or don’t have to say it,” Dilone said.
Currently, the state law says that “each teacher at the commencement of the first class of each day in all grades in all public schools shall lead the class in a group recitation of the ‘Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag,’ and failure to do so for a period of two consecutive weeks would result in a fine of “not more than five dollars.”
But by the Supreme Court’s ruling, that line is considered unconstitutional, according to Saint Laurent.
“Leading the class in the Pledge of Allegiance would violate the First Amendment rights of that staff member,” Saint Laurent said. “So, by the Supreme Court’s ruling, that line would be considered invalid and unconstitutional.”
After about 15 minutes of discussion, the committee decided to hold off on a more substantial conversation around this issue until the Legislative and Contracts subcommittee.
School Committee member Chris Collins said he would be interested to see if there are other sample policies across the state that the School Committee could look into before making a decision on their own. School Committee member Denise Hurst suggested that the committee reach out to the Massachusetts Association of School Committees to inquire about any sample policy on their end, as well.
“I would be interested to see, like Attorney Murphy, if we could get other samples of policies because I think there’s going to be a desire on the committee’s part to look at developing a policy in subcommittee,” Collins said.
