SOUTH WHIDBEY RECORD: School Board delays decision on Pledge of Allegiance
The South Whidbey School Board did not come to a decision this week about whether to reinstate the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of regular meetings. The board conducted a lengthy discussion of the topic during the Sept. 8 workshop.
Board Chairman Brook Willeford led off the discussion with a brief history of the pledge given in an article from the Smithsonian Magazine. The magazine article appeared to attribute a racist motivation to the Pledge’s author, Francis Bellamy, when he penned the pledge in 1892.
Board member Damian Greene acknowledged the pledge’s questionable history but encouraged board members to also consider the more positive meanings the pledge has taken on since its creation.
Board member Marnie Jackson said “I too am troubled with its racist roots.” Later she added “I also share the philosophy that there are really noble aspirations that are named in the pledge, and that we should be striving for a union in which ‘liberty and justice for all’ are centered and called to our attention as frequently as possible.”
Superintendent Josephine Moccia said no one has expressed concerns about the pledge not being said since it was first taken off the board’s agenda a decade ago.
The board took no action but ultimately decided to form a committee to examine the issue at a later date.
The board also decided to hold all future meetings online. In an email, Willeford said the decision was influenced by elevated cases of Covid in concert with high in-person attendance and the inability or unwillingness of members of the public to obey masking mandates. Several people who had gathered outside said they felt the move back to virtual meetings was an attempt to silence the voices of community members who disagreed with the board.
One person commented that an acceptable compromise to this issue would be for the board to say the Pledge of Allegiance alongside the Land Acknowledgement read by the board at the beginning of each meeting. For the rest of the story, see the article by Karina Andrew in the South Whidbey Record.
On the Ballot in November 2021 – South Whidbey School Board:
- Position 2 – Incumbent Andrea Downs vs Dawn Tarantino
- Position 4 – Incumbent Marnie Jackson vs Farrah Manning Davis
- Position 5 – Incumbent Ann Johnson vs Bree Kramer-Nelson
