Superintendent Ted Sharp said Friday 85 flags ordered about three weeks ago arrived Friday and would be installed in high school classrooms Saturday.
Sharp said he had considered issuing a directive in October that the Pledge of Allegiance be said in the high school. But after Sharp discussed the matter with Gorham High School Principal Chris Record, they agreed that it could be a lesson in the democratic process for the School Council, a body of 10 teachers and 10 students elected by their peers.
Sharp said it allows students to have a voice. “This a great teaching opportunity,” Sharp said.
Sharp proposed that the pledge be said in each day in classrooms or over the school’s intercom
But according to the Gorham High School Web site, the School Council in a November meeting didn’t support Sharp’s proposal. But the School Council is considering an alternative plan, which would allow time and an area for those students who wished to say the pledge.
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.
But Sharp responded Friday to her remarks. “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 piublic.”
A meeting about the flags and pledge issues with Sharp and Ennis accompanied by a lawyer hasn’t materialized.
Sharp said the School Council would convene on Dec. 17 to continue its discussion. “It’s our job to help them become good citizens,” Sharp said. “It’s what the flag is all about.”
“I think some people don’t realize kids are assets and not liabilities,” Sharp said. “It’s our job to help them become good citizens.”
The School Council will make its recommendation about the pledge to the Gorham School Committee, which would make the final decision about reciting the pledge.
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