Atlanta school removes Pledge of Allegiance from morning ritual

EDITOR’S NOTE [6:30 p.m. Thursday]: Due to new developments, this story has continued to change since it was originally reported. For the latest AJC version, go to: School reverses Pledge of Allegiance policy after criticism

ORIGINAL STORY: An Atlanta charter school will not recite the Pledge of Allegiance as part of its morning meeting agenda.

Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School on Grant Street announced the change Tuesday in a statement from elementary campus principal Lara Zelski.

The decision was made “in an effort to begin our day as a fully inclusive and connected community,” Zelski said. “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.”

Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School will no longer recite the Pledge of Allegiance as part of its morning meeting agenda. (Credit: Channel 2 Action News)

Students will be given the opportunity to say the pledge at another point during the school day and they will continue to be asked to stand to participate in the school’s Wolf Pack Chant each morning, according to the statement.

“Teachers and the K-5 leadership team will be working with students to create a school pledge that we can say together at morning meeting,” Zelski said.

That pledge, she said, “will focus on students’ civic responsibility to their school family, community, country and our global society.”