PITTSBURGH – The American Civil Liberties Union and a southwestern Pennsylvania school district have signed an agreement settling a lawsuit brought by a girl who claimed she was disciplined for refusing to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Herald-Standard of Uniontown reports Thursday that the Brownsville Area School District not only agrees to allow the 13-year-old student to sit during the pledge, it requires the school board to announce at its next meeting that other students have that same right under the First Amendment.
The consent decree entered before a federal judge in Pittsburgh requires the district to refrain from punishing the girl and to expunge from her record the detention and in-school suspension she received last month for sitting during the pledge.
The girl's mother can still pursue monetary damages under the settlement.
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