Harrington / Globe photo

The discussion about saying the Pledge of Allegiance at Arlington High School, which began with a bang in June after inaccurate reporting by Fox News, ended with a whimper Tuesday, Aug. 3. A 3-3 vote on the issue in June, portrayed incorrectly by the network as a ban, became a 7-0 vote on the new policy.

Sean Harrington, the AHS senior who declared victory after three years of reinstating the daily Pledge, wept in the hallway outside the School Committee Room after the vote.

"Tears of joy," he said later in an interview after he had changed from a suit jacket into a T-shirt. He had wept in public after the June tie vote, which sent the issue to a subcommittee but did not ban it.

School Committee's legal-services review subcommittee met Wednesday, July 28, in the  Community Safety Building to continue discussing how to handle matters of school law after September. It heard an update about research to see how other districts deal with legal issues.

The subcommittee faces a Sept. 14 deadline to make recommendation to the full committee about whether to continue with longtime counsel Stoneman, Chandler & Miller.

Read a summary of the full text of the July 15, 2010, subcommittee's draft minutes (.PDF).