A teacher at a California high school lowered the grade of a student who refused to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance.
Leilani Thomas, the student, said she had been sitting during the Pledge of Allegiance since the second grade, KXTV reported. A teacher at Lower Lake High School took points off her participation grade for sitting.
“She told me I was being disrespectful and I was pretty mad,” Thomas, who is Native American, told KXTV. “She was being disrespectful to me also, saying I was making bad choices, and I don’t have the choice to sit during the pledge.”
“Students here have First Amendment rights, and they do not lose that when they come to school,” Becnel told ABC. “If any students have any concerns about their right to free speech, they can speak with a site administrator. We also have policies in place to protect their right.”
