WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Feb. 2 (UPI) -- A Florida county has settled a suit over the Pledge of Allegiance by ruling that students no longer need parental permission to abstain.
Under the new rules in Palm Beach County, students will be able to stand quietly without saying the pledge or to remain seated, the Palm Beach Post reported. The school board voted 6-0 to settle the lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Cameron Frazier, a student at Boynton Beach High School.
The settlement requires that Frazier's teacher, Cynthia Alexandre, receive a written reprimand for disciplining him.
Frazier and the ACLU also sued the state, claiming that a Florida law requiring students to stand for the pledge violates the U.S. Constitution. Palm Beach officials said they might change their rules again if he loses.
"We just took a back seat and said, 'Y'all fight it out,'" said school board attorney Gerald Williams.
