Manatee High School Teacher Placed on Leave

BRADENTON – A Manatee School District teacher has been placed on leave after a video was captured showing the teacher berating a student for not standing during the pledge. The video, captured by a student in the classroom, wasposted to TikTokand has since gone viral, garnishing national coverage.

The short video has been shared thousands of times across social media platforms, including outside of TikTok on Facebook and Twitter. Among the tens of thousands of comments left in response to the video, some viewers appeared divided as to whether the teacher or the student was more in the wrong. Some argued that "students should respect the flag," while others criticized the teacher's behavior and characterized statements the teacher made as "racist."

The TikTok video was captioned "my friend didn’t stand for the pledge and this is what the teacher said" and begins with a teacher saying to the student, "You are gonna sit there on your butt?"

The white male teacher stands near a seated male student who appeared to be Latino. The teacher is an art instructor at Manatee High School in Bradenton, according to individuals familiar with the art instructor.

"Don’t shake your leg. If you want to do something, get up and do it," the teacher can be heard saying–seemingly goading the student to react.

"I won’t hurt you," the student can be heard responding calmly.

"I’ll defend my country till the very end," the teacher added before suggesting the student go back to wherever he was from. "Where are you from, Mexico, Guatemala?" he yells.

Again the student responded calmly, "I was born here."

"And you don’t stand up for the flag?" the teacher could be heard asking as the video ended.

A school district spokesperson confirmed that the incident took place at Manatee High School, but did not confirm the identity of the teacher.

"The teacher shown in the video confronting a student in a Manatee District classroom was removed from the school the day the incident occurred," district spokesperson Micheal Barber wrote in an email. "The teacher no longer has contact with any students."

Barber added that the school district’s Office of Professional Standards has opened an investigation into the incident.

TBTinquired about the district's policy on students and the pledge of allegiance, and was pointed to language in the district's Code of Student Conduct. The language,TBTwas told by Barber, is in alignment with Florida State Statute1003.44, Patriotic programs; rules.

Page 66 of the district's2022-2023 Code of Student Conduct, "Pledge of Allegiance" reads in part:

However, despite the state statute and the existing code of conduct, the district said neither excused the behavior of the teacher that was caught on video.

"The School District of Manatee County strongly condemns any language or behavior that degrades, humiliates or insults any individuals - most especially the young people, families and community we have the privilege of serving," Barber included in an email.

What's the Rule?

It appeared online as though many people were unaware that the Code of Student Conduct requires a written "opt-out" from parents or guardians in order to excuse a student from Pledge of Allegiance recitation requirements.

"It cannot require that in schools,“ wrote one commenter, "it’s unconstitutional!"

"Since when do schools get to say that students MUST stand and recite the pledge," asked another.

F.S. 1003.44 was established in 1942. Florida is not the only state that has laws requiring students to stand and recite the pledge. April 2022 reporting byThe Hillidentified 47 states that require the Pledge of Allegiance to be recited in public schools,with varying exemptions for students or staff who wish to opt out.

Furthermore, The Hill reports, "The 1943 U.S. Supreme Court ruling,West Virginia V. Barnette, determined that no school or government can compel someone to recite the Pledge of Allegiance or salute the flag."

But subsequent challenges and rulings have found that states can require it so long as there are exemptions. Florida is one of at least three states that require written parental/guardian consent in order to excuse a student from reciting or standing for the pledge.

A local teacher, as well as Manatee School Board Member Charlie Kennedy, shared their concerns about the requirement during school board workshops earlier this year. A Palmetto High School teacher who addressed the board in January questioned the legality of the rule. Kennedy later questioned the constitutionality of the rule in a May workshop, but was told by district counsel that the rule is in alignment with state statute.

The local teacher and board member are not the only people to have questions about the constitutionality of such a rule. A2019 dispute at a Florida schoolconcerning a requirement for students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance raised questions about student rights in at least two states.

The incident resulted in the arrest of a Florida middle school student for an alleged confrontation that resulted between the student and a teacher who confronted the student over not reciting the pledge. The student was arrested for causing a disturbance and resisting arrest.

Charges against the student wereultimatelydropped, but the incident raised questions among the public about Florida's requirement for public school students to receive written parental permission before being excused from reciting the pledge. At the time, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida issued a statement through its Twitter account, writing in part, "This is outrageous. Students do not lose their First Amendment rights when they enter the schoolhouse gates."

A 2008 opinion by the 11th Circuit of Appeals,Frazier v. Winn, upheld Florida's statute as constitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court did not take the lower court's decision on appeal.

"Although we accept that the government ordinarily may not compel students to participate in the Pledge, e.g., Barnette, we also recognize that a parent's right to interfere with the wishes of his child is stronger than a public school official's right to interfere on behalf of the school's own interest," the federal court said. "Most important, the statute ultimately leaves it to the parent whether a schoolchild will pledge or not."

But in 2010, theFlorida Department of Education advised schoolsthe court’s opinion left open "the possibility that the parental consent requirement can differ, or may not apply at all, depending upon the maturity of the student."

It seems likely that Florida's statute requiring students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance unless receiving written consent from a parent will be challenged again at some point. Regardless, many of the comments on social media about the video from the Manatee High School classroom pointed out that the question of whether or not the student should have been required to stand and recite the pledge was overshadowed by the teacher's behavior. Many commenters appeared troubled by the teacher's decision to attack the student's race and question whether the student was "from here."

Based on the school district's statements and response to the incident,it appearsthe district agrees that the teacher's behavior was unacceptable.