“It never, to us, invoked any type of religious intentions. It was basically a patriotic gesture that the boys and girls were doing.”For background, read 'God Bless America' Banned from Florida School and also read Saying 'Bless You' After Sneeze Gets Student Suspended
-- Principal Sam Sassano, Glenview Elementary School
And read Atheists Force Michigan Schools to Ban Christians
-- From "ACLU to school: No 'God bless America' after pledge" by The Associated Press 1/5/16
A southern New Jersey elementary school will no longer require its students to say "God bless America" following the Pledge of Allegiance after the state's chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union asked the school to stop the practice.
But Glenview Elementary School Principal Sam Sassano said that officials won't prevent the school's 265 students from saying the phrase, which he said has become part of the Haddon Heights school's culture since 9/11.
Sassano said in a letter to parents that the practice is patriotic and does not advance any religious message. However, he said, the school will explore "alternative methods" of honoring victims of the Sept. 11 tragedy.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "N.J. ACLU tells school no more 'God Bless America'" by Greg Adomaitis, South Jersey Times for NJ.com 1/5/16
A borough elementary school recently received a letter from New Jersey's American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) asking them to stop requiring students to say "God bless America" after reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
Glenview Elementary School received the letter because the ACLU states that saying "God bless America" is unconstitutional.
"It is improper and unconstitutional for public school officials to have elementary school students invoking God's blessing," Ed Barocas, legal director of the ACLU's New Jersey branch, said Tuesday. "Students have the right to engage in religious messages on their own time, but not during official school assembly led by school officials."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "ACLU: No 'God bless America' in Haddon Heights school" by Phaedra Trethan, Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, NJ) 1/6/16
[Principal] Sassano said Monday that the tradition, one the school has never formally taught to nor required of students, began with two kindergarten teachers who wished to show support to first responders and victims in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
The teachers who began the tradition are no longer with the school, he added.
Parents, he said, have called to express disappointment but have largely been understanding. Many parents, he added, said they would tell their children to continue saying "God bless America" after reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, and the school would not prevent them from doing so.
Hector Diaz, whose stepson is a student at the school, said "too many rules and regulations" were changing the nation for the worse.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Also read how schools capitulate to atheists in Oklahoma, Delaware & Maine out of ignorance of the Constitution.
However, other schools know the facts: Texas School Supt. Tells Atheists to Go Fly a Kite
