BELFAST — A Maine school district superintendent says a high school junior should not have been sent to the principal’s office for refusing to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Regional School Unit 20 superintendent Brian Carpenter says he sent out an email to district staff informing everyone that students do not have to stand or recite the pledge. Maine Public Broadcasting Network reports the student refused to participate in the pledge on Friday.

Attorneys for the Washington, D.C.-based American Humanist Association sent a letter to the district that said punishing the student violated the law and the student’s civil rights.

The incident occurred a few weeks after a South Portland high school student added the words “if you’d like to” to her daily invitation to students to say the pledge.