McGroarty Issued 'No-Trespass Order' at Mill Creek After Pledge Dispute

The parent who entered Mill Creek Elementary School and engaged in an argument over the Pledge of Allegiance has been issued a no-trespass order, which means he may no longer legally enter the school or set foot on its property, the Kane County Sheriff's Office confirmed on Thursday.

Colin M. McGroarty's public Facebook bio and comments, meanwhile, explain in greater detail his point of view regarding the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance in the elementary school.

McGroarty has strong opinions, formed in part by his service in the 12th Special Forces Group (Airborne).

McGroarty is a consultant in the technology industry. His business, McGroarty Consulting Group, is located in Rockford and has been around since September 2002, according to his business' Facebook page. He was a Skillsoft application engineer in New Hampshire from 2006 to 2009, worked as a consultant for Orbitz from 2005 to 2006 and served in the 12th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Arlington Heights, his Facebook page says.

He has an MBA from University of Phoenix, completed in 2008 and had a grade-point average of 3.87, according to the Facebook page.

He's divorced, which explains why he has a Rockford address while his children live in Mill Creek. 

He's also not shy about sharing his thoughts via social media.

His original post on Facebook, which is public, seems to indicate he didn't know the words to the Pledge of Allegiance. He writes:

The NEW pledge of allegiance has been modified at the end. Instead of ending in, “with life, liberty, and justice for all,” the NEW pledge of allegiance now ends with:

“…with justice for all (life and liberty are no longer part of the pledge) and I will obey all rules and follow all commands given to me by my teachers.”

He later qualifies that message in a comment thread, saying his concern is that there is no break between the Pledge of Allegiance and the Mill Creek Elementary School Creed:

My perception is that some teachers, faculty, or school systems are exploiting what is essentially a loophole that allows them to modify the Pledge of Allegiance by tacking additional verbiage to the end and calling it a separate item. In my humble opinion (and PSYOP missions are nothing new to me courtesy of my military time) it is still indoctrination that is training children to blindly follow rules.

McGroarty's Facebook Post From Wednesday, Jan. 9

McGroarty's Facebook post asks readers to "Please SHARE with EVERYONE."

"NEVER have I been ANGRIER, more SCARED, or more UPSET than I am today," it says. "I walked into my children’s elementary school today to hear the children reciting the NEW pledge of allegiance ...

"This is the same method in which fascism was introduced into schools prior to the Hitler Youth movement of Germany. If people can’t draw the connections then God help us all.

"The school where I witnessed this is Mill Creek Elementary School in Geneva, IL (Kane County). The principal was unwilling to discuss the issue."

In the post, McGroarty explains that he is divorced, but he and his ex-wife disagree on school issues.

"Please pray for me that I’m successful in getting my children moved to a private school or to a home school environment. I’d even consider letting my children return to Mill Creek Elementary School so long as my wife and I both sign a letter excusing my children from any such activities."

McGroarty's Followup Comment Posted Thursday, Jan. 10

One of McGroarty's concerns, he said, is that kindergarten and first-grade students recite the pledge differently than other students.

"While I will argue that this is NOT what I heard in the kindergarten classroom on January 9, 2013, at Mill Creek Elementary School in Geneva, IL, I have no way to prove it. I also still question why I was advised by a Mill Creek Elementary School faculty member that kindergarten and first grade say the Pledge of Allegiance differently than other grades.

"So, let’s for sake of argument operate from the standpoint that I heard incorrectly. I am still no less concerned that the children would be reciting the (pledge and school motto) with hands on heart facing the flag and NO BREAK between the two items." 

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