Gorham High School students and teachers on the School Council were scheduled to meet Dec. 17 to come up with a compromise after rejecting a proposal from the superintendent last month to say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning over the intercom.
Lauren Cunningham, a senior at Gorham High School and co-chair of the School Council, said the goal of the compromise would be to establish a time and place where students could recite the Pledge.
In a 14-6 vote last month, the School Council rejected a proposal from Superintendent Ted Sharp to say the Pledge in classrooms at Gorham High School, where, teachers say, the Pledge hasn’t been recited regularly in 30 years.
Last week, Suzanne Ennis, a substitute teacher, presented a petition to the Gorham School Board and Town Council demanding that students recite the Pledge and the School Department install flags in classrooms, which is required by state law. She said the pledge is recited at the Village Elementary and middle schools, but isn’t at the high school. Ennis and others who circulated the petition collected more than 300 signatures in 10 days.
Sharp has already addressed the flag request. He said 80 flags ordered two or three weeks ago at a cost of $500 were installed in high school rooms Saturday.
Sharp said he considered issuing a directive about reciting the pledge, which is not required by state law, but decided to let students make the decision after discussing the matter with Chris Record, the high school principal. Record and Sharp decided the issue would be a good civics lesson for students.
“This is a great teaching opportunity,” Sharp said.
Sharp and Record decided to refer the matter to the School Council, which is made up of 10 students and 10 teachers. The School Council debated Sharp’s proposal last month at what Cunningham described as the most well attended School Council meeting she had seen, with 20 students who were not on the School Council showing up to speak.
English teacher Dave Hochheiser, who co-chairs the School Council with Cunningham, said there wasn’t “mincing of words” during the meeting but he called the discussion cordial and respectful.
“The vote was taken and there were no riots afterwards,” Hochheiser said.
Hochheiser and Cunningham both voted against Sharp’s proposal. Cunningham said the issue has been a subject of discussion in homerooms and said many students feel it is unnecessary to say the Pledge everyday.
“I’m against having it said over the intercom,” said Cunningham, who feels a large number of students would recite the pledge but some wouldn’t like being forced to recite it and might refuse to stand in classrooms.
Hochheiser said the School Council is working on an alternative proposal that would allow the Pledge to be recited at a designated place, such as the auditorium, gym or flagpole.
“The main goal is to establish a time and place where people could meet to say the pledge,” Cunningham said.
Record, who is in his first year as principal, said students and faculty are taking the issue very seriously. “Participating and watching it is my proudest moment so far at the school,” Record said.
Hochheiser said allowing involvement of the School Council supports the democratic values and teaches students to become part of the democratic process.
“It’s our job to help them become good citizens,” Sharp said. “It’s what the flag is all about.”
However, Ennis has pointed out that one part of the civics lesson is lacking – the meetings of the School Council aren’t open to the public. She said she wasn’t allowed to attend the meeting last month.
“It’s an outrage,” said Ennis.
Despite Ennis’ objections, Sharp said he has no plans to open the School Council meeting next week to the public.
“It’s not a public forum,” he said. “We don’t open what goes on in the school to the public.”
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With flags in classrooms, Gorham High School is in compliance this week with state law but a recommendation about reciting the Pledge of Allegiance rests in hands of the School Council that rejected the superintendent’s proposal.
Gorham citizens signing a petition have demanded the pledge be recited in the school.
A flap over the flag unfolded last week in separate public meetings of the Town Council and the School Board. Armed with a citizens’ petition, Gorham substitute teacher, Suzanne Ennis, spoke at both meetings. Ennis said flags in classrooms were required by state law but were absent from many classrooms at the high school and signers of the petition also want the pledge recited.
////A lawyer, Stephen Wilson, representing Ennis sent a letter to the town’s attorney, William Dale, on Dec. 1 about the school complying with state law requiring American flags in classrooms. ////Wilson also wrote that the pledge wasn’t being recited according to a directive by Superintendent Ted Sharp in October as reported in a news article.//// Ennis provided a copy of Wilson’s letter.////
Sharp said Tuesday that 80 of 85 flags ordered two or three weeks ago at a cost of $500 were installed in high school rooms Saturday.
Sharp said he had considered issuing a directive that the Pledge of Allegiance be said in the high school but he changed his mind. Sharp discussed the matter with Gorham High School Principal Chris Record and they agreed that it could be a lesson in the democratic process for the School Council, a body of 10 teachers, who are department heads, and 10 students elected by their peers.
Sharp said it allows students to have a voice. “This is a great teaching opportunity,” Sharp said.
Record said this week it is an opportunity for students to talk about an important issue. The School Council will give its recommendation to the School Board, Record said.
Ennis said last week the pledge is recited at the Village Elementary and middle schools, but isn’t at the high school. She is a substitute teacher at all three schools. Ennis and others who circulated the petition collected more than 300 signatures in 10 days.
“There’s a lot of community feeling about it,” Record said.
////Sharp presented his proposal for the pledge at the School Council meeting in November. “That the opportunity be provided each day, either in each classroom, or over the school intercom, for students and staff to honor the American flag by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance,” Sharp’s proposal said./////
But last month, the School Council rejected Sharp’s proposal 14-6 and will meet on Wednesday, Dec. 17, to hammer out a possible alternative recommendation to the School Board about reciting the pledge.
////Last week, Town Council Vice Chairman Mike Phinney, asked Dennis Libby, chairman of the School Board, during the Town Council meeting for a report next month.////
Lauren Cunningham, a senior at Gorham High School and co-chair of the School Council, said there is feeling around the school that it is unnecessary to say the pledge everyday and the issue has been a topic of homeroom discussions. “I’m against having it said over the intercom,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham felt a large number would recite the pledge but some students wouldn’t like being forced to recite the pledge and would refuse to stand in classrooms.
One student, whose dad serves in the military, wrote a letter to the School Council. Twenty non-members of the School Council attended and spoke at the meeting. There were people on both sides, Record said. Record said two teachers said the pledge hadn’t been said for 30 years in the high school.
Cunningham said it was the largest turnout for a School Council meeting.
////A packet that included legal information provided by Sharp to the School Council said, “Although recitation of the Pledge in Maine schools is not required by statute, school boards nevertheless do have authority under Maine statutes to adopt pledge recitation policies, provided those policies permit individual students not to participate.”////
English teacher Dave Hochheiser co-chairs the School Council with Cunningham. Hochheiser said there wasn’t “mincing of words” during last month’s School Council meeting but he called the discussion cordial and respectful. “The vote was taken and there were no riots afterwards,” Hochheiser said.
Cunningham and Hochheiser both voted no on Sharp’s proposal.
But, Hochheiser said the matter isn’t over yet. “We’re trying to work on a compromise,” he said.
The School Council is considering an alternative plan. “The main goal is to establish a time and place where people could meet to say the pledge,” Cunningham said.
Hochheiser said the auditorium, gym or outside at the flagpole are alternatives where the pledge could be recited.
Record, who is in his first year as principal, said students and faculty are taking the issue very seriously. “Participating and watching it is my proudest moment so far at the school,” Record said.
Hochheiser said allowing involvement of the School Council supports the democratic values and teaches students to become part of the democratic process.
“It’s our job to help them become good citizens,” Sharp said. “It’s what the flag is all about.”
But, Ennis said Friday she wasn’t allowed to attend the School Council meeting last month. “It’s an outrage,” said Ennis.
She said the School Council debate should have been public. She said the lesson in civics was blotched.
“It’s not a public forum,” Sharp said about the School Council meeting. “We don’t open what goes on in the school to the public.”
The School Council is now in its third year at Gorham High School. “Students really appreciate we’re able to participate and make decisions that affect us,” Cunningham said.
Lauren Cunningham, a senior at Gorham High School and co-chair of the School Council, says while many students would recite the Pledge some might not like be forced to say it and would refuse to stand for it in classrooms.
Lauren Cunningham, a senior at Gorham High School, is one of 14 members of the School Council who voted against reciting the Pledge in classrooms. Students are working on a compromise that would designate a place and time for students who wanted to say the Pledge.
English teacher Dave Hochheiser says students were direct but respectful when they were debating whether or not to require students to recite the Pledge.
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