HUBBARD, Ohio (AP) -- The American Civil Liberties Union has asked an Ohio school to stop punishing a student who refused to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
Seventeen-year-old Roxanne Westover says she's an atheist and considers the pledge more religious than patriotic. Because she wouldn't participate, she says she was sent to the Hubbard High School principal's office several times.
The ACLU wrote school district officials Tuesday arguing that students have the right not to say the pledge as a matter of free speech.
Hubbard Superintendent Richard Buchenic says he told the ACLU that the matter has been "dealt with."
ACLU of Ohio staff counsel Carrie Davis says the school intends to follow a district policy that students are not required to recite the pledge.
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