HYDE PARK, Vt. -
After controversy and a compromise, the Lamoille North Supervisory Union will allow the Pledge of Allegiance to be said before its school board meetings.
"If you don't want to say it, don't. We're going to think just as highly of you as we did before," says David Whitcomb, a school board member.
The decision, to make the pledge optional and before the actual meeting, was the subject of public outcry. Many including military veterans felt the pledge should be part of the meeting.
"If you can't stand up and say okay to that, it's a very serious issue," says John Buttolph, Commander VFW Post 9653. "It represents the country, the traditions that we have."
Some board members had felt the pledge was unnecessary at meetings and felt their patriotism was under attack.
"It's nice to have public involvement but over a divisive issue and where we get hate phone calls about how we are unpatriotic and so on, it's very disconcerting," says Bill Sander, a school board member.
The issue is popping up at various school boards in the Lamoille district because of a new superintendent.
He says he didn't mean to start a controversy, he just noticed meetings were missing the pledge and thought it should be added.
