Schools

Marlboro District Changes Asher Elementary Pledge to School Song

After concerns from parents in the district, Asher Holmes Elementary students will no longer pledge to the school every Monday morning.

After concerns expressed by a parent at a recent Board of Education meeting, Marlboro's will no longer pledge to the school on Monday mornings.

The pledge, created ten years ago by a fourth-grade teacher, was in addition to the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America.

I pledge allegiance to Asher Holmes and the Marlboro Township School District and to the teachers who help us learn, all that we need to know for the future. We promise to respect ourselves and others, to try our best and always be proud of our schools.

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The pledge will now be turned into a school song, according to a district news release.

"In light of concerns expressed by a parent at the Marlboro Board of Education workshop meeting on June 12, 2012, a school pledge recited weekly for the past ten years by Asher Holmes Elementary School students is being re-written as a school song," the release said.

Find out what's happening in Marlboro-Coltsneckwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Marlboro mom Valerie Kaufman complained to the Board of Education about the pledge at a June 16 meeting, saying she didn't feel it was appropriate for kids to face the American flag with their hands over their hearts, and pledge to the school.

"I don't know about you guys, but I've never heard of a pledge of allegiance to the school, the school district and to the teachers. I don't think it's constitutional, I don't think they should be doing it," she said. "I think we should do away with it."

Superintendent Dr. David Abbott said at the meeting that he saw nothing wrong with the pledge, and it was a way of showing school spirit and it had been done for ten years.

Board member BonnieSue Rosenwald suggested the board take the pledge to its attorney for a decision. 

Patch reported the story on Tuesday morning, attaching a poll asking Marlboro residents if any school should have its own pledge.

As of Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., 168 people voted in the poll, and 101 people said they do not believe a school should have its own pledge. 16 people voted that the pledge was okay for any school, and 51 people said it was fine, as long as it did not replace The Pledge of Allegiance.

On Wednesday afternoon, the district issued a news release stating that over the summer, the pledge would be turned into a school song for the 2012-13 school year.

Patch polls are not scientific and should not be considered fact. The original poll is attached to this article, feel free to continue voting and continue the dialogue on Marlboro-Colts Neck Patch.


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