Of 27 school boards in West Cook County, five no longer recite the Pledge of Allegiance before their meetings.
That's according to an analysis of school board agendas by West Cook News.
School boards for Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200, Oak Park District 97, River Forest District 90, Leyden High School District 212 in Franklin Park, Berkeley District 87 and River Grove District 88.5 no longer start their meetings by pledging their allegiance to the U.S. Flag.
Ralph Martire, of Oak Park and River Forest High School Board, and Barb Hickey, of River Forest School District Board.
Like its school boards, the Oak Park Village Board doesn't recite the Pledge, either. But village boards in River Forest, River Grove, Berkeley and Franklin Park all still do.
The Berkeley District 87 Board of Education stopped regularly reciting the pledge in the 2019-20 school year, according to its posted agendas.
The Oak Park and River Forest H.S. (OPRF) "Board of Education Policy Manual" states explicitly that the school must teach "patriotism...proper use and display of the American flag... and the Pledge of Allegiance."
But this manual applies to OPRF students, and not to its board members.
Oak Park school districts said the pledge regularly until 2011, but stopped in response to board member hostility to the words "under God."
In 2017, Oak Park District member Graham Brisben said he was opposed to the Pledge because "there's an indication of an explicit or implied deity, and we're a diverse community of people who have multiple deities and some who have no deity."
That was after then-Oak Park District 97 Board President Jim Gates tried to get his fellow members to start reciting the Pledge again at meetings. He was rebuffed.
In August, a new "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" citizen committee in River Forest voted 20-6 against reciting the Pledge at its bi-monthly meetings. One board member, Roshni Ricchetti, objected to the Pledge's reference to God, saying its reference to a higher power is "introducing magic into the equation."
Does your school board recite the Pledge of Allegiance?
| School District | Yes/No |
| Leyden H.S. 212 | No Pledge |
| Oak Park H.S. 200 | No Pledge |
| Oak Park 97 | No Pledge |
| Berkeley 87 | No Pledge |
| River Grove 85.5 | No Pledge |
| River Forest 90 | No Pledge |
| La Grange Highlands 106 | Pledge |
| Lyons Township H.S. 204 | Pledge |
| Western Springs 101 | Pledge |
| Morton H.S. 201 | Pledge |
| Cicero 99 | Pledge |
| Proviso Township H.S. 209 | Pledge |
| Komarek 94 | Pledge |
| Berwyn North 98 | Pledge |
| La Grange 102 | Pledge |
| Berwyn South 100 | Pledge |
| Riverside Brookfield H.S. 208 | Pledge |
| Lyons 103 | Pledge |
| La Grange 105 | Pledge |
| Maywood-Melrose Park-Broadview 89 | Pledge |
| Summit 104 | Pledge |
| Mannheim 83 | Pledge |
| Franklin Park 84 | Pledge |
| Schiller Park 81 | Pledge |
| Ridgewood Community H.S. 234 | Pledge |
| Pleasantdale 107 | Pledge |
| Central Stickney 110 | Pledge |
Source: School board agendas
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