Guest teacher urges Missoula schools to follow state pledge-of-allegiance law

During the meeting’s public-comment period, a guest teacher, identified as Steven Bennett, said he had reported "large scale failures" in Missoula County Public Schools’ compliance with Montana Code Annotated 20-7-133, the law governing recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools.

Bennett told the board he had notified the Office of Public Instruction and regularly posts the statute in first-period classrooms so students know their right not to participate. He read portions of the statute aloud in the meeting, including that "the pledge of allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America must be recited in all public schools of the state" and that a "student or teacher who declines to participate...may engage in any alternative form of conduct, so long as that conduct does not materially or substantially disrupt the work or the discipline of the school." Bennett said he teaches in multiple Missoula County schools and that students should never feel peer pressure either to participate or not to participate.

The board limited public-comment speakers to three minutes; Bennett’s remarks were cut short at that limit. The board did not take any formal action during the meeting in response to his comments, and no district staff provided a response during the public comment period.

Missoula County Public Schools has not been reported as issuing a statement during the meeting on Bennett’s specific allegations. The board’s agenda continued to other items after public comment.