Texas Student Challenges School's Policy of Standing During The Pledge of Allegiance

A student at Cypress Springs High School in Cypress, Tex., says he’s being "singled out" by his teachers because he wouldn't stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, according to KHOU.com.

"It’s very uncomfortable," said Ray Jones. "I’m wondering what they’re going to say next."

The trouble started last month on a day Jones decided to jog to school. According to his mother, the 17-year old was so wiped out by his run that he was incapable of standing for the nine seconds it takes to say the Pledge.

"He was tired, dripping with sweat, exhausted," LaTonya Ellison said. "He just, on that particular day, did not feel like standing up."

Watch the KHOU.com news brief:

“According to the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, students who do not participate in the Pledge of Allegiance are expected to stand, unless a parent has contacted the school regarding this practice being in conflict with their religious beliefs,” KHOU reports.

“Ellison admits she never wrote a note,” the report adds.

Jones and Ellison say they have no problem with the Pledge or the school’s policy -- they have a problem with how the teachers handled the situation.

"Instead of being asked what was wrong, because that was totally out of character for him, it was assumed that he was being unpatriotic -- and that is not what it was about at all," Ellison said.

Jones' mother has since written his teachers a note excusing him from the Pledge. And although she has written the note, she says faculty members still "single him out" in class, according to KHOU.