|
WEST PALM BEACH, FLA---The Palm Beach Board of Education has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit filed Dec. 22 against the school by a high school junior and the American Civil Liberties Union for allegedly punishing the student for refusing to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance.
Student Cameron Frazier will receive $32,500 and Cynthia Alexandre, the teacher who ordered Frazier to leave the classroom after he refused to stand, will be reprimanded in writing.
State law says the pledge needs to be recited at the beginning of the day at all elementary, middle and high schools.
Public students don't have to recite the pledge or stand for it, the school board decided Wednesday and rescinded the policy which provided that a letter from a parent was necessary to excuse the student from reciting the patriotic oath.
Acting on behalf of Frazier, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida had filed a lawsuit against Palm Beach County school officials for failing to respect the First Amendment rights of 17-year-old Frazier.
The school board attorney said that the changes reflect federal case law which says that a student can't be forced to recite the pledge or stand for it.
Alexandre ordered Cameron, a junior at Boynton Beach Community High School, to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance during her fourth period math class on Dec. 8. When Frazier refused, citing the fact that he had not stood for the Pledge since sixth grade and that he wasn't going to change his practice, his teacher responded by saying: "Oh you wanna bet? See your desk? Now look at mine. Big desk, little desk. You obviously don't know your place in this classroom."
She allegedly cursed at Frazier and accused him of being unpatriotic and then ordered him to leave the classroom. Alexandre cited the school district policy requiring students to obtain written permission from their parents in order to refuse to stand for the Pledge.
"We live in a free country," said Frazier's attorney James Green. "While patriotism is important, liberty of thought and liberty of expression are even more important."
"The courts have ruled time and time again that students in public schools have the First Amendment right to remain quietly seated during the Pledge of Allegiance," said attorney James Green, legal panel chair of the ACLU of Florida's Palm Beach County Chapter. "Cameron is a very patriotic student, but his is a quiet form of patriotism. In a very polite and respectful way, he declined to stand for the pledge and the teacher berated him in front of his classmates." 2-02-06
© 2005 North
Country Gazette
|
