Pledge+of+Allegiance

** 2. BOARD POLICY** ||
 * __SECTION XII: PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE __**
 * __LINKS TO SPECIFIC TOPICS__: **
 * ** 1. ABSTAINING FROM RECITING**


 * 1. __PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: ABSTAINING FROM RECITING__ **


 * United States **** Supreme Court: **
 * Ruled that requiring teachers and students to stand in salute of the flag and recite the //Pledge of Allegiance// against their religious beliefs constituted a violation of their rights under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (New York State School Boards Association [NYSSBA], 2010, p. 574, School Law § 27:50).
 * //West Virginia State BOE v. Barnette, //319 U.S. 624 (1943)
 *  “Dismissed, on procedural grounds, a lawsuit claiming that reciting the //Pledge of Allegiance// violates the Establishment Clause of the federal constitution to require students to listen daily to the recitation of the //Pledge of Allegiance//, because the Pledge contains the words One Nation, Under God within its text” (NYSSBA, 2010, p. 574, School Law § 27:50). Therefore “by declining to rule on the merits of the claim, the court left the substantive constitutional question for another day” (NYSSBA, 2010, p. 574, School Law § 27:50). This ruling preserved the “contested phrase “one nation under God” in the //Pledge of Allegiance//” (Essex, 2012, p. 43).
 * //Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, //542 U.S. 1 (2004)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Federal District Court (outside of New York): **
 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Held subsequent to Newdow’s initial challenge that reciting the //Pledge of Allegiance// in public schools is unconstitutional” (Essex, 2012, p. 43). “Ruled that this pledge’s reference to “one nation under God” violates students’ right to be free from a coercive requirement to affirm God” (Essex, 2012, p. 43).
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Newdow v. United States, //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">315 F. 3d 495 (C.A. 9, 2002)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Federal District Court ****<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> (New York): **
 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ruled that “those refusing to salute the flag may not be required to either stand or leave the room,” stating that “the act of standing itself is a gesture of acceptance and the option of leaving the room is punishment for nonparticipation” (NYSSBA, 2010, p. 574, School Law § 27:50).
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Goetz v. Ansell, //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">477 F.2d 636 (2d Cir. 1973)


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">2. __PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: BOARD POLICY__ **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Board Policy 8420 ****<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">: PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Board directs the administration to include the salute to the flag and Pledge of Allegiance as part of the daily opening exercises in all the schools. (Olean City School District, 2011, Board Policy 8420)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Board of Education recognizes that students have the right to abstain from reciting the pledge and teachers have the right to stand silently during the daily recitation of the pledge. (Olean City School District, 2011, Board Policy 8420)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Education Law Section 802 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">8 New York Code of Rules and Regulations <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">(NYCRR) Section 108.5