A Georgia school decided on Thursday to reverse its decision it made earlier in the week to end the practice of students participating in the Pledge of Allegiance during all-school assemblies, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Earlier in the week, Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School said that the pledge would no longer be recited in such assemblies after some parents and students expressed concerns. The school said that it wasn't outright banning the Pledge of Allegiance from being recited during school hours, but moving the pledge to the school's classrooms.
“Over the past couple of years it has become increasingly obvious that more and more of our community were choosing to not stand and/or recite the pledge," principal Lara Zelski said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "There are many emotions around this and we want everyone in our school family to start their day in a positive manner. After all, that is the whole purpose of our morning meeting.”
By late Thursday, backlash from the public and public officials forced the school to reverse its decision.
Georgia' Department of Education requires schools to make time for the Pledge of Allegiance, but students are not required to stand or recite it.
“Students are offered the opportunity to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance," county superintendent Morcease J. Beasley told the Constitution-Journal. "If they choose to participate or not is their individual and constitutional right and the reason the flag of the United States of America exists. Anything that removes their right to choose to participate as their conscience dictates, in my opinion, is un-American and immoral.”