Schools Turned Off President's Speech

Students in some San Diego classrooms watched President Obama’s speech Tuesday despite parents’ objections to the addition of the "back-to-school pep talk" into school curriculum.

The White House released the president's remarks ahead of the planned 18-minute speech at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va., to help reassure critics he was not trying to indoctrinate students by holding the talk in a school setting.

Despite the holiday, the La Mesa-Spring Valley school board held a special meeting Monday night which, heated at times, ended with a compromise. The schools decided not to air the speech live but recorded it and will allow students to watch the speech or parts of it over the next few days. Parents also had the option to opt out completely.

“I just think it was a good compromise because it’s very controversial and it gave us an opportunity to focus our instruction around what is going to be meaningful,” said school board president Penny Halgren.

In Ramona, the school superintendent told the Ramona Sentinel that the decision to show the speech was left up to the teachers.

In Poway, the superintendent sent a letter giving parents a chance to opt out. In the Escondido Union school district, a recorded message told parents how they could keep their children from watching it.

At Helix High School, students in one class watched the speech as did some students at Steele Canyon High School.

Sweetwater, Grossmont High School and San Diego Unified districts all denied media access to their campuses to capture classes viewing the speech.

Click here to read the text of the address.

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