Residents rallied Wednesday outside Evanston Township High School, passing out flyers criticizing the school’s enforcement of free speech policies.
The protest follows an event last month in which a student was given a Saturday detention for refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. After receiving criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union and the local political group Neighbors for Peace, ETHS administration reviewed constitutional law and revoked the detention, said Margaret Lurie, District 202 school board president. Teachers were told to also allow students to sit quietly during the pledge.
But despite other protests, the school has not changed another controversial policy, which bars teachers from wearing political buttons in classrooms.
The flyers handed out Wednesday featured a picture of the Statue of Liberty with her mouth covered by an U.S. flag bandanna. They announced a “Free Speech Rally” planned by Neighbors for Peace and scheduled for Monday at 3:40 p.m. across from the school. The flyers also urged people to attend the District 202 school board meeting at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
“We’re planning on being out in front of the school, letting more of the students and teachers know (about) and reminding them to come to the school board meeting,” Neighbors for Peace member Anya Cordell said before Wednesday’s rally.
The flyers also included a “quiz” to inform students about their rights regarding the pledge, their right to wear political buttons and criticized the enforcement of the ban on teachers wearing political buttons.
“We want students to have awareness of what has happened with the pledge issue,” said Cordell, the mother of an ETHS senior.
Lurie said administrators did not hesitate to change their policy to allow students to sit during the pledge, based on the 1943 Supreme Court case West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette. An Illinois law passed last summer now requires schools to lead students in the pledge every day.
“As soon as we found out that courts allow kids to just sit, we changed our policy,” Lurie said. “I think it just didn’t occur to anybody (before).”
Some students and teachers took the flyers when they were offered, but Dan Pioletti, a Skokie resident in Neighbors for Peace, said, “It’s hard to tell whether students are going to read it or throw it away.”
Many students said they knew they were allowed to either sit quietly, stand silently or leave the room during the pledge, but some students still felt pressured to participate.
“My teacher makes me stand,” said ETHS junior Sonjacharde Mixon, who did not realize Supreme Court rulings permit students to sit during the pledge. “You can tell by (her) tone of voice that she’s mad.”
ETHS freshman Alex Fisher said he knew about the policy change from talking to others and from hearing an announcement during the homeroom period.
“I found out by listening to some adults talking about stuff,” he said. “(The school) said an announcement about it.”
Lurie said she expected students to find out as Fisher did.
“There was a letter to staff and I assume it was read to students as well,” Lurie said. “Everybody’s talking about it, so I’m sure they know.”
Spanish teacher Gaston Anguiano said students in his homeroom don’t care enough to participate or pay attention.
“It’s not important at this age. They don’t know the meaning of the pledge,” he said. “They choose not to participate. It is an option for students within this school.”
Even if students may now sit during the pledge, residents are still critical of the policy.
“(Administrators) haven’t done a good job of clarifying they have changed their policy, and they haven’t accepted the fullness of the responsibility of what they have been doing” by not allowing students to sit during the pledge, Cordell said.
She said by previously not allowing students to sit quietly during the pledge, the administrators misled students and pressured teachers. “They created an intimidating climate,” she said.
