NewsRadio 740 KTRH | October 18, 2006
By Scott Braddock

The video shows children waving small Mexican flags [SEE VIDEO] and a volunteer reciting the pledge. [SEE VIDEO].

Whether students also recited the Mexican pledge remains a point of contention.

Several parents have told KTRH News that students were saying the pledge, while Brazosport Independent School District officials say that did not happen.

The assembly was meant to teach children about Mexican Independence Day, school district officials said. The holiday is celebrated Sept. 16 to mark the day Mexico won independence from Spain.

Sam Williams, the school's longtime principal, has said, in hindsight, he would have done things “differently.” He has also apologized to anyone who may have been offended.

“As stated previously, and again verified with the campus administration this morning (Tuesday), the students did not say the Mexican pledge," district spokesman Stuart Dornburg said.

KTRH News obtained the video by requesting it from the Brazosport Independent School District under Texas open records laws.

The father of a third-grader at Velasco, who wished to remain anonymous, said Tuesday that some students surrounding him at the assembly were saying the pledge. “I was telling them you don't have to stand for the pledge of allegiance to the Mexican flag," he said. He noted that only some students — not all — were reciting the pledge.

"That's treason ... you're not supposed to say the pledge of allegiance to any flag other than the American and Texas flags," the father added. "It broke my heart to see the kids doing that.”