The Anchorage School Board will consider a policy update next month that encourages patriotism in district schools. The measure was discussed during Tuesday’s school board meeting, and will appear before the board for a final vote at its next meeting.
The policy mandates that the Pledge of Allegiance be recited daily and encourages other patriotic activities. It’s a watered-down version of a proposal from board member Dave Donley that would have required Anchorage schools to play the Star Spangled Banner and the Alaska Flag Song during school at the beginning of every month, and on Veterans Day, Patriot Day and Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
The new version removed the requirement to play patriotic songs, opting to encourage the practice instead.
“Other patriotic exercises shall be identified, planned and conducted by school leadership,” the policy states. “The board encourages patriotic exercises which include, but will not be limited to, the United States of America’s National Anthem and Alaska State Flag Song.”
It has broad support from the board, but at Tuesday’s meeting, Donley said it doesn’t do enough as currently written.
“The new policy as drafted, that we will be voting on at our next meeting, I believe is wholly insufficient to ensure an appropriate level of instruction in American traditions, culture and history takes place in our schools, and lacks what is needed to ensure achieving the goal, which is our existing goal of instilling patriotism in our students,” Donley said.
Donley’s proposal also moved the requirement for students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance daily from administrative regulations to board policy.
Anchorage Moms for Liberty Chair Gabby Ide said her organization supported the original policy, but felt that the revisions made it “toothless.”
“I think these patriotic duties are integral to our culture as Alaskans, our culture as Americans,” Ide said. “It would be really important that our students go through K-12 having repeated exposure to the activities that were in the original proposal.”
The only other person to speak about the proposal was Alaska Black Caucus President Celeste Hodge Growden. Hodge Growden said she supports the policy’s flexibility.
“Students being allowed to bring their unique and true selves to this conversation is essential if any patriotic exercise is to be meaningful and relevant,” Hodge Growden said.
Currently, none of the five largest school districts in the state mention the national anthem in their board policies. If passed during the board’s next meeting in October, Anchorage School District would be the first.
Correction: An earlier version of this story inaccurately stated that Celeste Hodge Growden praised the board for including language that allows students to sit silently. That language was already included in the board’s policy, and Hodge Growden did not speak directly to that language.
Tim Rockey is the producer of Alaska News Nightly and covers education for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at trockey@alaskapublic.org or 907-550-8487. Read more about Tim here.
